


it's nice to have a friend

by nighting_gale17



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arrow Fusion, Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Relationship, Slow Burn, bodyguard eddie, lawyer maddie, playboy chimney, vigilante buck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2020-12-14 15:07:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 36,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21017780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nighting_gale17/pseuds/nighting_gale17
Summary: Billionaire playboy Evan Buckley is found alive five years after being missing and presumed dead following the crash of his Yacht in the North China Sea. He has a returned a changed man, armed with a bow determined to clean up the city as a hooded vigilante. His father gave him a list, of people who have added to the corruption of the city, and he will cross them off one by one.His plan doesn't go as he expected, however, and he finds himself struggling with keeping his alter-ego secret from his friends and family. With the help of his new bodyguard, Eddie Diaz, will he be able to reunite with his family and keep the promise he made to his father? Or will he lose himself in the process of chasing justice?





	1. no place like home

**Author's Note:**

> This has taken me literally months to write. So far, I have finished the first 3 chapters. There will be around twenty, I believe. I hope you guys enjoy this Arrow/911 fusion! (and no, you don't need to know anything about the show to enjoy this) The beginning couple of chapters closely follow the show, obviously, but they will soon diverge and I can't wait for you guys to read the rest of this.
> 
> Updates will be very, very slow, so bear with me! Hope y'all enjoy this, and leave a comment and kudos letting me know your thoughts!!!!!

September 17th, 2017 at 3:45 am 

** _‘Evan Buckley Is Alive’_ **

** _‘Lost Billionaire Found In The North China Sea’_ **

** _‘Five Years Disappeared—Evan Buckley Returns Home’_ **

** _‘Robert Buckley Officially Confirmed Dead—Son Evan Buckley Sole Survivor’_ **

** _‘Buckley’s Gambit Ship-Wrecked Five Years Ago— Five Dead, One Survivor’_ **

* * *

Staring out of the hospital window to the night sky, it never ceased to amaze him how alive the city seemed to be even this late at night. Down below, he could just make out the clamber of reporters desperately attempting to get into the hospital to interview him—Evan Buckley, the sole survivor of the ship-wrecked Buckley’s Gambit. The slight breeze of the night that blew into the hospital room helped to calm his frayed nerves—he’d never been a huge fan of hospitals.

Behind him, Buck heard the door slowly open and his eyes closed briefly when he heard his mother’s soft gasp. “Evan?”

Turning around slowly, Buck steeled his nerves and turned to face his mother, forcing something resembling a small smile onto his face. “Mom.” he rasped quietly. 

<strike> _ what would she think if she knew of what a killer her son had become oh how she would hate him hate everything's he's done she would— _ </strike>

Warm arms wrapped up around his stiff shoulders, pulling him down slightly into a tight hug. It took a moment for Buck to relax, unused to kind touch anymore but he slowly wrapped his arms around his mom and pressed his nose against her neck. “Oh, my beautiful boy.” she whispered tearfully.

He allowed himself this moment of weakness, inhaling her familiar scent of gunpowder and pomegranate and feeling tears prick at the corners of his eyes. It’s been so long since he’s been able to see her he hadn’t realized how much he missed her until this moment. He forgot the warm feeling in his chest that he got when she hugged him as if everything was right with the world. He forgot how much her love for him overshadowed everything else he might feel.

Buck wished he could enjoy this moment forever.

When he finally was released from the hospital a few days later (it was so odd to finally be receiving actual medical care instead of—), he walked into the Buckley mansion with his mom leading the way. “Your room is exactly how you left it.” she told him, giving him a sad smile. “I never had the heart to change anything.”

Buck allowed his eyes to roam around the mansion while his mother talked. It was weird that everything looked almost exactly the same. He noticed some of the pictures were different, and the warmth that usually was exuded from the soft wooden walls of the mansion was noticeably gone, but all in all, not much had changed in five years. And yet, he was such a different person from the last time he stepped in these halls.

“Evan.” 

Buck looked up and hid his surprise when he saw Bobby Nash walking towards him. Cautiously, he placed his case next to his feet on the ground as the man approached. It’s been several years since he has seen his father’s CFO. 

“It’s damn good to see you.” he said sincerely, giving Buck one of those warm smiles that he always shared with him in secret when he was younger and his father dragged him to work with him.

"You too, Bobby," Buck smiled sincerely, opting for a hug rather than a handshake. Bobby had been one of his father's best friends and close confidants to Buck, and he was extremely glad to see him once again. 

Over Bobby’s shoulder, Buck spotted Carla, one of his favorite housekeepers/nanny/second mom walking up to them. He couldn’t help the small, genuine smile that formed on his face as he walked past Bobby and took Carla’s hands, gently bringing them up to his mouth and kissing her knuckles. “Carla.” he greeted warmly. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Welcome home Mr. Evan.” Carla smiled back at him, joy dancing in her eyes before she directed her next comments at his Mom and Bobby standing behind him. “Mr. Han phoned. He wants to join you for dinner.”

“Wonderful.” His mom responded. At the same time, Buck heard the soft click of a door shutting from upstairs and all of his attention immediately turned away from them as he slowly walked towards the bottom of the stairs.

“Evan? Did you hear that?” Mom asked, a tinge of hope in her voice as Buck walked past her but he ignored her. His eyes locked on his beautiful sister when he got to the bottom of the stairs, smiling up at her with the same smile he had when he saw Carla. “Hey, sis.” he murmured.

May let out a soft sigh, a large grin breaking out over her face as she rushed down the stairs, her dark brown curls bouncing around her head. “I knew it. I knew you were alive.” She practically threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him almost as tightly as he hugged her back. “I missed you so much.” she said tearfully, pressing her face against the crook of his neck.

“You were with me the whole time.” Buck murmured against her ear, instinctively bringing his hand up to cup the back of her head and briefly closing his eyes to soak in this moment. He wasn’t lying. Pure, sweet, kind-hearted May was one of the only reasons he hadn’t lost himself while he was there, hadn’t become—

“Bucky?”

Buck opened his eyes to see his little brother, Harry, standing at the top of the steps where May had once been standing and staring at him with wide eyes. And, oh, his little brother had grown up so much. The last time he’d seen him, he'd been coming up on almost his fourth birthday and was still drawing on the walls all over the mansion. “Harry, hey little guy.”

His heart broke when Harry burst into tears and practically flew down the stairs and tackled both him and May, jumping up and wrapping his little arms around both of them. It was only thanks to Buck’s quick reflexes that he managed to catch the little boy as he cried into his shirt, his hands fisted in the fabric. “We thought you were gone!” he cried, his little body shaking with sobs.

“Nope.” Buck swallowed the swell of emotion that threatened to close his throat. “I’m never going anywhere ever again. I promise.” he closed his eyes and pressed his face against Harry’s hair and repeated, “I promise.”

Later, when he manages to get a moment to himself, it's unbelievable how after five years, everything that was once familiar is now unrecognizable. The face he sees in the mirror is the face of a stranger. Thunder rumbled outside of his room and the lightning flashing periodically served to be the only light illuminating his room. The scars on his body seemed harsher in the sudden, dull glow as he stared at himself in the mirror. Even now, he could barely stand to look at himself with anything other than a calculating, detached gaze.

More than twenty percent of his body was scar tissue, the doctor had told him. Twelve different fractures that had never healed properly. He remembered each one—could tell someone exactly where they were, how they happened, and how long it took for them to heal. Sometimes he could feel the ache in his bones when it was cold but he welcomed the pain—it reminded him that he was still alive to feel it.

Averting his gaze from the mirror, Buck let the towel around his waist fall onto the ground as he carefully picked out an outfit from his closet to wear for dinner. He wasn’t done with reunions tonight. Only a few minutes later found him standing in front of the doors to the mansion, staring at a photo of him and his father, lost in thought. 

_ You’ve got to right my wrongs, son. Survive. _

Buck was torn from his thoughts when he heard the door click open softly behind him.

“What did I tell you? Yachts suck.”

Buck felt a smile break out on his face as he turned around to greet Chimney. “Chimney Han.” he chuckled as he embraced his friend in a tight hug.

“I missed you, buddy.” Chimney murmured, holding him tightly for a few seconds longer than usual before pulling back with a bright grin. “Come on, man, we can catch you up on everything during dinner.”

“Alright.” Buck chuckled, allowing a small smile to remain on his face as he followed Chimney into the dining room where the rest of his family was waiting. Buck took a seat at the head of the table, across from his Mom who sat on the other end. Chimney sat down to his right and May was already sitting on his left next to Henry. Curiously, Bobby was sitting on his Mom’s right, next to Henry. Buck didn’t realize he was going to be staying for dinner.

“Okay. What else did you miss?” Chimney talked thoughtfully as he ate. “Super Bowl winners, Giants, Steelers, Saints, Packers, Giants again. A black president, that’s new. Oh, and ‘Lost’, they were all dead, I think.”

“What was it like there?” May interrupted Chimney’s rambling, her brown eyes shining with curiosity and a weird look on her face.

Silence fell across the room after she spoke and Henry stared up at her with wide, horrified eyes. 

“Cold,” Buck replied after a moment, raising his gaze from the table to look at her and give her a tight smile.

“Tomorrow, you and me, we’re doing the city,” Chimney spoke up, quickly trying to change the subject and disuse the sudden tension that seemed to arise in the room. “You’ve got a lot to catch up on,” he added, pointing at Buck with his fork to add emphasis to his statement. 

“That sounds like a great idea.” Mom smiled at them from the other end of the table.

“Good. Then I was hoping to swing by the office.” Buck said, his gaze shifting from his mom to where Bobby was sitting.

“Well, there’s plenty of time for all of that,” Bobby said, putting his wine glass down and glancing at Mom before he turned and smiled at Buck. “Buckley Consolidated isn’t going anywhere.”

Before Buck could reply, out of the corner of his eye he spotted Carla trip on the floor and start falling towards him. Instinctively, he reached out with one arm to keep her from falling and grabbed the fruit bowl before it fell out of her hands and hit the table, effectively steadying them both.

“Oh, I am so sorry Mr. Evan,” Carla said, a slight blush of embarrassment on her cheeks and slight curiosity in her eyes.

“Не беспокойся.” Buck murmured as he handed her back the bowl of fruit, smiling slightly at her stunned expression as she thanked him again. 

“Dude, you speak Russian?” Chimney asked, shock evident in his voice.

“I didn’t realize you took Russian at college, Buck,” Bobby said, setting his fork down on his plate to eye Buck curiously. 

“I didn’t realize you wanted to sleep with my mother, Bobby,” he replied easily with a half-hearted, bland smile towards the man. He couldn’t allow them to start asking questions about how he knew Russian right now. Besides, Buck had some questions for the man that he deserved answers to.

Silence once again filled the room following his words, the tension thick enough you could slice a knife through it. Buck flicked his cold, pleasant stare from Bobby to his mother, waiting patiently for someone to provide the confirmation to what he was already suspecting. He watched as Mom subtly look at May and Henry and then back to Buck, her lips pressed together in a failed attempt to hide her shock.

May made no effort to hide her scoff, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms over her chest. “I didn’t say anything.”

“She didn’t have to,” Buck added quietly, his gaze once more moving to Bobby before he met his mother’s gaze.

His mom closed her eyes for a moment before she visibly steeled herself, straightening her posture as she reached out and took Bobby’s hand. “Evan… Bobby and I are married, and I don't want you to think that either one of us did anything to disrespect your father.”

“We both believed that Robert like you was, uh, well, gone.” Bobby continued for her, looking more sympathetic and understanding than Buck wanted him to be.

“It’s fine,” Buck said quickly, forcing a small, pained smile on his face and hoping it didn’t look the like the grimace he felt it was. He averted his gaze from his Mom and… Bobby, forcing himself to tap down on the unreasonable anger and the familiar pain at the mention of his father. Taking a deep breath, he suddenly rose from his seat, placing his hands on the table as he carefully looked up at his mother. “May I be excused?”

At his mother’s nod, Buck pushed his seat back and grabbed an apple from the table as he left, ignoring the fact that the rest of his food still sat on his plate, completely untouched. 

“Hey, don’t forget about tomorrow, buddy.” Chimney reached out to pat Buck’s arm as he walked by, immediately helping release some of the tension that had coiled up in Buck’s body.

As he left, Buck made sure to give May and Henry a playful wink so they knew he was alight when he left the dining room. 

xxx

** _Abby? Abby!_ **

** _Buck, she’s gone. She’s gone!_ **

A hand putting pressure on his shoulder startled him awake and Buck was instantly alert, his heart racing as adrenaline pumped through his veins and his fight or flight instinct took over. He grabbed the wrist of the hand touching him and flipped the person over, holding their arm tight as he sat up and pressed his hand threateningly against their neck.

“Buck!” 

He finally heard his name being yelled over top of the thunder and wind howling in his ears. He blinked several times before the face hovering in front of him came into focus and recognized—Bobby? 

He looked down at the person he was holding against the floor and let go of her as if he had been burned when he realized it was his mom. Horrified, Buck shuffled backward away from them, his breaths labored and uneven as his heart pounded against his chest.

His mom coughed as she sat up, holding on tightly to Bobby’s arm as he helped her back onto her feet.

Buck flinched away from them at another crack of thunder and clambered into a crouching position, pressing himself as close to the wall next to the open window as he could to get himself away from them. “I’m sorry. I’m so- I’m so sorry.” his voice cracked slightly as tears burned in his eyes. He stared down at the ground next to his feet, trying desperately not to cry as he avoided looking at his mom—god, he had almost killed her. He  _ hurt _ her! “I’m sorry,” he repeated, biting the inside of his cheek to choke back a sob.

“Oh, it’s okay, Evan. It’s alright, sweetheart.” Mom murmured as she and Bobby slowly crouched down, acting as if he was some scared, wild animal.

The remnants of the nightmare still clung in the back of his brain and for a moment, Buck was still convinced that at any second all of this was going to wash away and he was going to wake up and be back on that damned island again and he wasn’t sure if—

“You’re home. You’re home.” Mom repeated, her words so tender, so soft, Buck risked a glance back up towards her. She was staring at him with nothing but love and sorrow in her eyes and that’s when Buck knew—this was real. Because in his dreams, his mother never looked at him with anything other than hate in her eyes for getting her husband killed.

Needless to say, Buck didn’t get much more sleep that night. After reassuring his mother he would be fine (which took longer than he thought it was going to) they finally left him alone in his room, where he spent the rest of the night laying on the floor next to his bed, alone with his thoughts. He forced himself to meditate most of the night, because his being alone with his thoughts was a dangerous thing, and eventually he dozed until the first rays of the sun shone through his window.

Now, though, it was almost midday and it was time to go meet with Chimney. But first, he wanted to go talk to May before he left. Taking a deep breath, Buck knocked loudly on her door before he walked inside, slightly surprised to see one of her friends already in there.

“Buck!” May greeted him with a smile, standing up from where she had been lounging on her bed.

Buck blinked in surprise before chuckling slightly. “No one’s called me that in a while, Speedy.”

“Worst nickname ever.” May groaned, but there was a hint of a smile on her lips that showed she really wasn’t upset by Buck saying that anyway.

“What, always chasing after you as a kid, I thought it fit pretty well.” he teased, shoving his hands into his pants pockets as he stood in front of her. “Maybe it still does.”

“See you at school, Speedy.” May’s friend grinned teasingly at her and glanced at Buck once before she left the room.

“Sorry about her,” May mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

Buck bit back a smile when he spoke. “I have something for you.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Hozen from his pocket, holding it in front of May.

“You did not come back from a deserted island with a souvenir.” May scoffed, though she eyed the hozen in his hand curiously.

“It’s a hozen.” Buck explained, glancing down at the object in his hand before he looked back up at May. “And in Buddhism, it symbolizes reconnecting. I kept it in hopes that one day it would reconnect me with you.” he finished, placing it in her hand with a small smile.

May took the rock without a word and quietly turned it in her hands, looking at it with a smile on her face before she looked back up at Buck with a soft look in her eyes. She looked like she was about to say something when Chimney’s voice suddenly broke the silence.

“A rock. That is sweet.” Chimney’s smart-ass comment came from behind them and Buck bit back an amused smile, rolling his eyes at the same time as his sister as he kept talking and walked up next to them. “You know, I want one of those t-shirts that says ‘My Friend Was a Castaway and All I Got Was This Crappy Shirt.’” 

Buck and May shared a Look before his sister chuckled and patted him lightly on the chest. “Don’t let him get you into too much trouble. You just got back. Take it slow.” she advised, reaching forward to wrap him in a tight hug.

Pressing a soft kiss to her cheek, Buck hugged her back almost as tightly, somewhat reluctantly letting her go as Chimney cleared his throat. He bounced on the tips of his toes, looking particularly anxious to get going. “The city awaits.”

Chuckling, Buck let himself be ushered out of May’s room, grabbing his coat and flinging it over his shoulder as he walked through the hallway. “Have you noticed how hot your sister has gotten? Because I have not.” he hastily added when Buck turned to give him a pointed glare. “Right. Let’s get going.”

xxx

“So, your funeral blew,” Chimney told him offhandedly as they drove through the city.

Buck raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side to look at his best friend. “Did you get lucky?”

“Fish in a barrel.” Chimney chuckled, shooting Buck a grin. “They were so sad and huggy—”

“No…” Buck cringed, throwing his head back and chuckling against his better judgment.

“And I am counting on another target-rich environment for you welcome-home bash.” he continued, glancing back over to Buck.

Buck frowned at that, turning his head back to stare at Chimney. “At my what?”

“You came back from the dead,” Chimney said, disbelief still lingering in his tone even now. “This calls for a party. You tell me where and when. I’ll take of everything.” he reassured him, sounding more excited for this than Buck felt. His mood noticeably dropped, though, as they pulled up along the side of the road across from the abandoned Buckley’s Consolidated factory. 

“The city has gone to crap,” he muttered, glancing around outside. “You know, your dad sold his factory just in time. And why’d you wanna drive through this neighborhood anyway?”

Chimney wasn’t wrong. Buck has been through this neighborhood before, a long time ago before his father sold the factory and used to drag him along to work occasionally during the summer. The place had been nicer then, booming with activity, but ever since the factory closed, the economy down here in the Glades had gone to shit and the neighborhood went with it.

Just another sin to atone for.

But he didn’t say any of this to Chimney. This was his battle to fight on his own. “No reason,” he said instead, gazing at the abandoned factory next to them. This would be a good place, he decided. As good as any other, at least, and it was out of the way enough that it should work.

“So what’d you miss the most?” Chimney asked, changing the subject into something more comfortable. “Steaks at the palm, drinks at the station? Meaningless sex?” he added with a chuckle.

“Maddie.” Buck murmured, turning his gaze to stare down at his hands in his lap. He could feel Chimney’s judgy eyes and bit the inside of his cheek when he heard him sigh.

“Everyone is happy you’re alive. You wanna see the one person who isn’t?” Chimney asked, raising an eyebrow with a serious look on his face when Buck looked up at him. 

Shrugging in response, Buck gave a small sigh of his own and looked back out the window at the factory as Chimney started driving away. He didn't expect him to understand. Hell, Buck knew he was signing his own death warrant by going to see her but… this was something he had to do. He couldn’t be a coward about this. He couldn’t run away from this. He made a promise to Abby and he was going to see that promise through no matter how much it might hurt.

By the time they had gotten to the CNRI office building, Chimney had tried to talk Buck out of this no less than three different times but Buck refused. He had Chimney, however reluctantly, stay outside while he went in to go confront Maddie. It was… weird to have everyone staring at him when he walked in. Of course, he’s used to people staring at him, he is a billionaire’s son after all and had quite the reputation, but this was different. These were stares filled with pity and sadness. He didn’t like it.

“Hi,” Buck said quietly, giving the receptionist a small smile as he walked up to her desk. “I was hoping I could see Maddie Lance? Could you take me to her?”

The receptionist looked at him with wide eyes before she nodded, only looking a little nervous. “Of course. I’ll take you to her desk, she’s in a meeting right now so you’ll have to wait a minute or two,” she said apologetically.

“It’s no problem,” Buck said dismissively, following the woman through the office building. It was definitely a place Maddie would work, Buck thought. Nonprofit, cozy-looking, and very, very busy. There were people rushing around in every direction, phones going off constantly, and Buck smiled a little at the thought of watching Maddie work in here. Her dream job.

“Here you go. She should be here in just a few minutes.” The woman pointed at Maddie’s desk and then gave him a small, sad smile before she walked off, leaving him alone.

Glancing around, Buck turned his attention towards the bulletin board next to him on Maddie's desk covered in various newspaper clippings and photographs. Adam Hunt, he thought, carefully picking up one of the newspaper clippings and studying it. A picture of the man stared back at him, along with a brief article of a recent accusation bringing him to court. That was one of the names on his list. Why was Maddie going after him?

Luckily, Buck didn’t have to wait long before he heard Maddie’s voice behind him. Turning around and putting the newspaper clipping down, he gave her a small, hesitant smile when she came to a stop in front of him. “Hello, Maddie.”

She looked as beautiful as he remembered. Even more so. There was an air of confidence in her that Buck remembered seeing glimmers of before the boat wreck. She was wearing one of those stylish power suits she always pointed out to him in magazines when they were talking about their future, a flattering navy suit with a pink blouse. Maddie The Lawyer.

“Let’s go for a walk,” Maddie said tightly, pressing her lips together in a thin line before spinning around and walking out, not even bothering to check if he was following. With one last glance at the bulletin board full of Adam Hunt, Buck followed her out of the building, trying to ignore the dread building in his chest.

“You went to law school,” Buck said as they walked down the sidewalk, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. “You said you would.”

“Yeah,” Maddie said lightly, a drastic difference from how tense her body was. “Everyone’s proud.”

“Adam Hunt’s a heavy hitter.” he continued, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets. “You sure you wanna get in the ring with him?” he asked. Why was she going after him? This man was dangerous. Very dangerous. Didn’t she know this? The Maddie he knew had never been this… reckless.

Maddie was silent for a moment before she scoffed slightly. “Five years and you wanna talk about Adam Hunt?”

“No. Not really.” Buck admitted, lowering his gaze down to stare at the ground as they walked.

“Why are you here, Buck?” Maddie sighed, coming to a stop and forcing Buck to do the same.

“To apologize.” Buck murmured as he turned around to face her, schooling his expression into something he hoped looked a lot calmer and collected then the mess of anxiety he was feeling inside. “It was my fault.” he continued. “I wanted to ask you not to blame her.”

“For what? Falling under your spell?” Maddie asked, staring at him with an unreadable expression on her face. “How could I possibly blame her for doing something like falling in love?”

“I never meant to—”

“She was my sister.” Maddie interrupted him, fire sparking in her eyes. “I couldn’t be angry because she was dead. I couldn’t grieve because I was so angry.” her voice started to rise as she kept going. “That’s what happens when your sister dies while screwing your best friend.”

Buck watched, the numb feeling in his chest that had thawed away when he got home returning as Maddie took a deep breath to calm herself. “We buried an empty coffin.” she continued, staring at him with a hard look on her face. “Because her body was at the bottom of the ocean where you left her.” After a moment of silence, she said, “It should have been you.”

No. No, it shouldn’t have been. Buck wouldn’t wish on anyone what he had to go through. If her only other choice other than being dead was being at his side for those five years, as selfish as it was, he was glad she was dead. Glad her pure heart was never tarnished and ruined by what he’s seen and what he had to do.

“I know that it’s too late to say this, but I’m sorry,” Buck said quietly, wishing she could understand. Wishing he could just tell her everything that happened to him because they used to be so close and he needed a friend, he needed her back in his life but after Abby—no. He didn’t deserve it.

“Yeah, I’m sorry too.” Maddie nodded, narrowing her eyes a little bit at him as the edges of her lips shadowed the expression of a snarl. “I’d hoped that you’d rot in hell a whole lot longer than five years.” She spun around on her heel and stalked off, spitting something at Chimney a few steps away from that Buck didn’t bother to listen to.

He stared into the air at the space where she had been standing feeling just as cold as the loneliest days on the island. He knew he deserved it, every word that she had to say to him and more, but it didn’t lessen the pain in his heart actually hearing her say it to him.

“Come on, buddy.” Chimney walked up to Buck and wrapped his hand around his shoulders, gently leading him away and back down the alleyway where they parked his car. “So, we took care of that. Good call. Now we can make up for lost time.” he suggested as they walked towards his car, patting Buck on the back and making his way to the driver's side door. “If you’re not too sick of fish, I suggest we find some leggy models and eat sushi all day. What do you say?”

The squeal of tires from behind them prevented Buck from answering. Immediately his body tensed up as the large van stopped right on their heels.

“What the hell?” Chimney asked, alarmed as he turned around to face the van.

Too late, from behind them a duo of men wearing red, demon-like masks walked up and shot Chimney with something in the neck. Buck didn't have any time to react he felt something prick his neck and almost immediately he felt his legs give out from underneath him. Grunting slightly, he leaned against the car to try and keep himself upright, his hand reaching up and fumbling at his neck to—

Tranq dart. Fuck.

Falling to his knees, he struggled to stay awake as his vision started to blur around the edges. He saw the door to the building open in front of him, and a large, annoyed-looking man walked out carrying a bag of trash in his hands. “Hey!” he shouted, eyes widening in alarm when he saw what was going on. Too late, one of the masked men turned around and shot the man with the gun he was holding. 

_ No… _ Buck thought sluggishly, staring up at the masked man as he collapsed onto the ground.  _ Chimney… _

xxx

“Mr. Buckley.”

“Mr. Buckley!” The bag covering Buck’s face was ripped off none to gently and Buck shook his head slightly, blinking quickly to force his eyes to adjust to the sudden change in light. He reared backward suddenly when one of the masked men leaned down and shoved the taser in his face, his chair tilting back dangerously. 

Buck gritted his teeth when he realized they had his hands tied together behind him on the chair. He refused to let them intimidate him, though and glared at the man wearing the red demon mask. He counted at least three others in the room, and there might be one or two more out of his sight if he counted right when they kidnapped him.

_ Chimney _ was his second thought, and he looked around the… warehouse? Yes, this was definitely a dingy, wet warehouse he was tied up in. Relief flooded through him when he spotted Chimney laying tied up on a pallet board, unconscious but appearing unharmed. So whatever these men wanted, it only had to do with him.

“Did your father survive that accident?” The masked man demanded. When Buck didn’t answer immediately, glancing at his other masked friend standing to the side, the guy got in his face and growled, “I ask the questions. You give me the answers.”

Flexing his hands behind him, Buck concluded that they must have used zip-ties. Okay. Zipties he could deal with it.

Apparently unsatisfied with his silence, the man reached out and shocked him with the taser, making Buck shout involuntarily as the electricity ripped through his body. He gasped for air when it stopped, squeezing his eyes shut as muscles twitched and convulsed slightly and his heart raced to catch back up to its normal rhythm.

“Did he make it to the island? Did he tell you anything?” The man demanded once again, crouching down and getting in his face. 

Still, Buck refused to answer and this time he was ready when the taser was shoved at his chest. He gritted his teeth and growled as the electricity shocked through his body, not for the first time glad this wasn’t his only experience with getting electrocuted. Breathing harshly, he bent his head forward slightly as he answered, “Yes, he did.”

“What did he tell you, Mr. Buckley?”

With his head down, Buck glanced at Chimney again laying tied up and unconscious on the floor and felt the familiar, hot anger fill his stomach at the sight. “He told me I’m gonna kill you,” he growled as he slowly lifted his head to glare at the kidnapper. 

The three kidnappers in the room laughed at his statement and the one who had been taunting him leaned forward with a sneer in his voice. “You’re delusional. You’re zip-cuffed to that chair.”

Raising his hands to his sides, Buck’s body tensed in preparation for a fight as he stared up at the man. “Not anymore.” 

The man swung out with his fist to punch him but Buck was faster. He ducked out of the way of the punch, grabbing the chair from underneath him and flipping it up when he straightened and slamming it into his head. The guy went down on the ground and Buck quickly hit the second guy coming at him in the neck with the edge of the chair, sending him down to the ground next to his buddy. He grabbed a piece of the broken chair and broke it off, spinning around and shoving it into the chest of the third guy who had been running at him from behind. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the first guy get on his feet and lunged at him before he could blink, stabbing him in the neck with the broken piece of wood. He punched him in the side of the face for good measure and wrapped his arm around him in a chokehold, using him as a barrier when one of the masked men who had come running in started shooting at him.

Throwing the dead guy to the ground, Buck gritted his teeth as the man threw his gun to the ground and ran away. He quickly rushed over to Chimney, pressing his fingers to his throat and letting out a sigh of relief when he found a pulse. Not dead. Just unconscious.

But he’s been seen now.

Rising back to his feet, Buck took off through the warehouse after the man who had tried to shoot him. He chased him through a hallway, narrowly avoiding being shot again when the man spun around and started shooting by diving out of the way and reaching up to the low hanging rafters above him and pulling himself up.

Buck chased the man from the roof as he went outside, lithely jumping and rolling past the obstacles in his way with a single-minded focus. He slid across the roof as the man fired the gun at him again, nimbly following him down the stairs as he tried to getaway

The man ran into another nearby warehouse, throwing his mask on the ground and spinning around to shoot at Buck as he ran at him. Buck jumped up onto the ledge to avoid the bullets, sprinting across the ledge before he jumped, grabbing hold of one of the chains hanging down from the ceiling. He used his momentum to swing around the corner, landing behind the guy as he was reloading his gun and quickly striking him in the face to disorient him then flipping his body through the air as he wrapped his arm around him in a threatening chokehold. 

“You killed that man,” Buck said, anger boiling in his veins as he thought of the innocent man the guy shot down.

“You don’t have to do this.” he gasped, struggling uselessly in Buck’s hold.

“Yes, I do.” Buck grimaced, tightening his grip. “Nobody can know my secret.” With a silent grunt, he twisted his arms, breaking the guy's neck and letting the criminal’s body drop to the floor at his feet.

Nobody can know.

xxx

“So that’s your story.” Detective Lance drawled, placing the hand-drawn picture of a man in a hood on the coffee table in between them. “A guy in a green hood flew in and single-handedly took out three kidnappers.” He glanced between Buck and Chimney sitting together on the couch, disbelief in his voice. “I mean, who is he? Why—Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know,” Buck answered, giving a small shrug of his shoulders and smiling tightly. “Find him and you can ask.”

“Yeah.” Detective Lance hummed, still looking unconvinced before he turned his attention to Chimney. “What about you?” He grabbed the drawing and lifted it up for them to both look at. “You see the hood guy?”

Chimney shook his head lightly, glancing at Buck and then back at the detective. “I saw… just movement. Everything blurry. I-I was kind of out of it.” he added, cocking an eyebrow humorlessly as he reminded them he was drugged and knocked out.

“Yeah. It’s funny, isn’t it? One day back and already somebody’s gunning for you.” The detective studied Buck through narrowed eyes, his gaze devoid of all humor. “Aren’t you popular?”

“Were you able to identify the men?” Mom asked, straightening her posture from where she sat on the couch next to Bobby across from Chimney and Buck. She was going into what Buck liked to call ‘mama bear’ mode. Her tone held a note of warning, one Buck thought the detective would be smart to recognize and back off.

“Scrubbed identities, untraceable weapons.” Detective Hilton spoke up from where he was standing next to the window a couple of feet away. He looked apologetically at Mom. “These were pros.” 

“Yeah.” Detective Lance murmured in agreement, glancing over at Mom and Bobby. “Well, they probably figured you’d pay a king’s ransom to get your boy back. After all,” he continued, turning his attention back to Buck with a familiar fire in his eyes. “A parent would do anything to keep their child safe.”

“I don’t find your tone appropriate, detective.” Mom said, narrowing her eyes dangerously at the man. There was a hidden warning in her words, reminding him of her rank above him in the force.

“If Evan can think of anything else, we’ll be in touch.” Bobby stepped in, rising to his feet in what is very clearly a sign of dismissal. “Thank you, gentleman, for coming.”

Detective Lance scoffed quietly but rose to his feet without argument, grabbing the paper and slipping it into his briefcase. When Buck stood, they locked eyes, and the full amount of the detective’s fury was clear to him. “Your luck never seems to run out, does it?”

Buck bit the inside of his cheek to keep from snapping back a retort at him. Detective Lance had every right to be angry with him and he should take whatever words Lance has for him without a fight. He was the reason his daughter was dead, after all, it wasn't like he didn't deserve it. Watching as they finally left, Buck rested his hands on hips and let out a long breath, closing his eyes for a moment to gather himself.

Now wasn’t the time.

“I’m going to go lie down for a bit, my head still kind of hurts,” Buck said quietly, glancing up at his mother.

“Oh, of course, sweetheart.” Mom stepped over to him and wrapped him in a tight hug, pressing a gentle kiss against his cheek. “Go rest up. I’ll have Carla bring you up some food in a bit.”

“Thanks, mom.” Buck murmured, hugging her back for a brief moment before he let go. As he walked past Chimney sitting on the couch, he placed his hand on his friend's shoulder and squeezed it gently. “Try to get some rest too, alright?”

“Yeah, I will,” Chimney promised, patting Buck’s hand before he withdrew it. “See you tomorrow, buddy.”

Smiling slightly, Buck made his way through the mansion back to his room but it wasn’t until he had the door shut behind him that he allowed the exhaustion to set in. He leaned back against the door, closing his eyes and allowing himself five seconds. Five seconds to breathe. Five seconds to think.

He had to admit, he wasn’t expecting to get jumped, at least not so soon after he got back. Especially not while Chimney was with him. Part of him wondered why they cared whether or not his father survived long enough to tell him anything—did they know about the book? Were they just competitors of Buckley Consolidated with some weird agenda? Right now, it didn’t really matter. The threat was eliminated and the vigilante was able to start making an appearance, even if it was a little sooner than he had been planning. He was just glad Chimney had been knocked out the entire time.

Five.

Taking a deep breath, Buck opened his eyes and walked over to his desk to get some research done. There was no way he could get any sleep right now, but he could make sure he started his mission to right his father's wrongs, and Adam Hunt was a great place to start.

About an hour or so later found him mulling over the information he had dug up online, absently running his finger over the names open in his father’s notebook. Adam Hunt was a dangerous bastard, from what he’d gathered, a greedy one—no wonder he was on Laurel’s target.

“You are different. Not like you to read a book.” Carla’s voice cut through his thoughts and he looked up to see her walking into the room holding a tray of food for him.

Buck smiled softly to himself, subtly closing the book and hiding the tab on his computer displaying information on Adam Hunt’s recent investigation. “I missed you, Carla,” he said as he leaned back in his chair.

“No kitchen on the island.” Carla teased, giving him a knowing look.

“No.” Buck shook his head, feeling that familiar hole of loneliness ache in his chest as he looked at her. “No friends, either.” Forcing a smile onto his face, he got to his feet and walked over to her, carefully taking the tray of food from her hands. “Thank you.”

Carla nodded and smiled at him as he turned around to place the tray of food on his desk. “Do I really seem different?” Buck asked as he turned back around to Carla.

“No.” She said firmly, leaving no room for argument. “You’re still a good boy.”

“Oh, I think we both know I wasn’t.” Buck chuckled slightly.

“But a good heart,” Carla replied softly, reaching out and gently pressing her hand over his heart.

Buck couldn’t help the genuine smile that grew on his face at her sentiment. God, he had missed her. She had always believed in him, could always see the strength in him, even when he didn’t see it himself. “I hope so. I wanna be the person you always told me I could be.”

“And you will.” Carla smiled at him, gently patting his arm before she bid her goodbye and retreated out of Buck’s room.

Smiling slightly to himself, Buck turned his attention back to the food on the tray Carla had brought him. He plowed through most of it quickly, grateful that Carla had the foresight not to give him anything too heavy or rich. After so many years away from home, he’d grown a new appreciation of fruits, broth, and bread.

Once he had finished eating, he quickly grabbed his jacket and left the mansion, intent on heading down to the Glades and getting started on building his base at the bottom of the abandoned Buckley’s Consolidated Factory. Unfortunately for him, as he was heading out the front door, he heard his mother call out from behind him. “Evan!”

Turning around, Buck tried to keep the frown off of his face as Mom walked over to him with Bobby at her side. “ I want to introduce you to someone.” She turned and gestured towards a man standing next to one of their cars with his hands clasped together in front of him. “Eddie Diaz. He’ll be accompanying you from now on.”

Now, Eddie Diaz was a very attractive man. He wore a dark professional suit and his jet black hair was perfectly styled to accentuate his gorgeous face. He had delicious scruff and that jawline—honestly, he looked like the kind of man who stepped right out of Buck’s fantasies. Unfortunately for him, his attractiveness still did not overshadow one thing.

“I don't need a babysitter.” he scoffed lightly, glancing at his mom and then Bobby.

“Darling, Buck’s a grown man,” Bobby spoke up carefully, glancing at her pointedly. “And if he doesn’t feel he needs armed protection—”

“You know, I understand,” Mom interrupted him, staring at Buck pleading. “But this is something I need.”

Sighing quietly, Buck glanced back at Eddie before he looked at his mom and nodded. “Alright. Okay, fine. If it makes you feel better.”

“Thank you.” Mom pressed a soft kiss against his cheek before she took Bobby’s hand and led them back into the mansion, Bobby sparing him an apologetic glance before he followed her inside.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Diaz,” Buck said as he walked up to the man, holding out his hand and giving him a tight smile.

“You as well, Mr. Buckley.” Eddie shook his hand, but his face remained stoic as he reached back to open the door for him. “Where to, sir?”

“Let’s just go for a bit of a drive,” Buck answered as he slid onto the cool leather. “Need to clear my head a little.”

Eddie said nothing more as he closed the door and then climbed into the driver’s seat, smoothly putting the car in drive and taking off. The car ride remained relatively silent as Eddie drove them around and Buck silently plotted his escape from the bodyguard.

Now, as a billionaire's son who has a party past, if there is one thing Buck has always been very good at, it has been escaping bodyguards. His parents used to have one on him all the time when he first started going out, but he quickly grew tired of them ruining the mood at parties and when he was trying to hook up with girls (and guys) so he got very good at losing them very fast.

This time was no different.

“So… what do I call you?” Buck asked from the backseat, glancing up at the rearview mirror to look at Eddie.

“Eddie’s good,” Eddie said, glancing up in the mirror to meet Buck’s eyes before he turned his attention back onto the road. “Dee if you want.”

“You’re ex-military?” he asked, though Buck already knew what the answer was. The man carried himself a certain way and had that look in his eyes that Buck remember seeing in—

“Yes sir, 605th airborne out of Afghanistan, retired,” Eddie responded a hint of pride in his voice. “Been in the private sector a little more than four years now. I don’t want there to be any confusion, Mr. Buckley,” he continued. “My ability to keep you from harm will outweigh your comfort.”

_ Oh, I wouldn’t mind you being a little too close to me for comfort, _ Buck thought to himself, biting back the smirk that he wanted to give. Unfortunately for him, however, Buck had plans and things he needed to do without a babysitter so for now—this was goodbye. While Eddie spoke, Buck quietly opened the back door to the car, once more grateful for his playboy foresight to uninstall the alert to the door opening.

In one smooth move, Buck ducked out of the car, swinging the door shut almost soundlessly behind him as he tumbled gracefully out of the car. Landing on his feet, he spared the car a quick glance as it kept coasting down the city road before ducking off into an alleyway. It was almost too easy, honestly. They never learned. 

Buck gave him a week before he quit.

xxx

Being forced to take the detour back home to change and grab what he needed to start setting up his base in the abandoned proved to be a slight annoyance, but if Buck was used to anything by now it was adapting. A quick motorcycle ride later, he found himself walking through the empty streets of The Glades, sighing inwardly at the numerous homeless people and homeless camps he can spot just from right here on the street.

He’s going to do something about it. He’s going to fix this city, starting right here, in The Glades.

Walking up the large fence surrounding the abandoned factory, Buck quickly threw his bags up over the fence to the other side. Then, taking a few steps back, he ran towards the fence, leaping off a stack of wood pallets and grabbing the edge of the fence to flip himself over. Landing steadily on his feet, Buck took a deep breath as he grabbed his bags and started walking towards the factory.

Being abducted was unexpected. It forced him to move up his plans. But what he told the police was true. The man in the green hood was there in that warehouse and he’s just beginning. 

It took him several days to build up his base in the basement of the factory. Hours of manual labor, continuously ditching Eddie’s valiant efforts to keep him in sight at all times and carefully spent money he quietly used from his trust fund—but in the end, it was all worth it.

He had everything he needed down here. Computers, generator fueled lights, tools to create his arrows, and on a table in the middle of the space—the box with everything he brought from the island. It was an unassuming, long green wooden box that held his bow, some arrows, and various other small things he felt he needed to bring back with him from the island. Chinese scripture lined the edges of the box in contrasting white—white that had now faded and dulled with time. His fingers skimmed lightly over the handle of the bow resting innocently in the box, silently promising himself it would soon serve the purpose he had promised its’ owner it would.

“The suit alleges that Hunt committed multiple acts of fraud and theft against the city’s underprivileged.” The news anchor on the tv spoke in the background as Buck continued constructing his arrows. "Maddie Lance, an attorney for the city necessary…”

_ Adam Hunt _ , he thought, grimacing as he screwed the arrowhead onto the long arrow in his hands. His crimes go far deeper than fraud and theft but he’s been able to bully, bribe or kill anyone who’s gotten into his way.

Setting the arrow down, Buck walked back over to the box and gently picked up the green hood laying inside next to the arrow. He stared at it for a minute before nodding to himself. It was time for the man in the green hood to make another appearance—one that won’t be forgotten this time.

xxx

“You remind Grell that I put him on the bench, I can take him off.” Adam Hunt’s voice echoed through the empty parking garage, dim lights illuminating him and three other men. Buck watched them through narrowed eyes from where he sat perched in the rafters over their heads, tightening the grip on the bow in his hands. “I will turn him into a cautionary tale.”

“Yes, Mr. Hunt.” One of the men responded nervously.

“And this attorney, Maddie Lance,” he sneered her name in a way that made it very tempting for Buck to just shoot an arrow through his eye right now. “You said she wasn’t going to be a problem anymore. I told you to fix that situation.” They came to a stop a couple of feet in front of Adam Hunt’s car when he turned and looked at the man at his side and growled out, “Why are you still here?”

This was his chance.

Pulling back on his bow, Buck carefully aimed his arrow and shot at the light hanging right behind them, sending the entire area into almost complete darkness. Just as quickly, he knocked another arrow and shot at one of the guards through the chest.

One down.

“Get in the car!” The other guard yelled at Hunt, opening the door and shoving him inside. 

Buck watched in slight amusement as the man turned and fired up at the rafters in the direction of the light that he had shot. Once he had used up his entire magazine, Buck silently jumped down from the rafters behind the man, arrow knocked in his bow and ready to fire. “Hey, you missed.”

The man turned around, his eyes widening for a fraction of a second before Buck shot him through the heart with his bow. Two down, now time for the main prize.

Raising his hand, Buck quickly shot one of his small, explosive arrows into the car, shattering the window. He jumped up onto the roof of the car, arrow pulled back in his bow and patiently waited for the contained blowback, narrowing his eyes as Hunt was thrown from the car onto the pavement.

“What? What?” Hunt gasped, struggling to sit up and then freezing when he saw Buck and the arrow pointed at him. “Look, just, just tell me what you want.” he pleaded, raising up his hands in front of him in a pathetic attempt to defend himself.

Jumping down from the car, Buck lowered his bow and grabbed Hunt by the front of his shirt and hauled him up to his feet. Shoving him against the wall behind him, he growled out in a low voice, “You’re gonna transfer forty million into Starling City bank account 1141 by ten tomorrow night.”

“Or what?” Hunt asked through gritted teeth.

“Or I’m going to take it. And you won’t like how.” Buck responded, releasing his grip on Hunt. He then turned and started walking away, only stopping momentarily when Hunt spoke up.

“If I see you again, you’re dead!” He shouted, voice full of anger with the threat of promise.

In lieu of an answer, Buck turned around and smoothly fired an arrow at Hunt’s car, distracting him long enough for him to slip away, unnoticed. Hunt better hope that his bank account was full by ten tonight—otherwise, he’s going to be the one winding up dead the next time they see each other.

xxx

The welcome party was tonight.

Years ago, Buck would’ve been ecstatic over the thought of going to a huge party like this where the sole purpose was for him to get laid, with many different men and women, preferably more than once with more than one. Now, though—looking out over the party from the top of the stairs he has to hide a grimace. He can feel the anxiety and claustrophobia already beginning to form a knot in his chest and he has to remind himself to take a deep breath and breathe through it.

Glancing down at his phone, he noted it was almost ten and yet, still no money in the account. The one advantage of the party—Buck had convinced Chimney to hold it right across the street from Adam Hunt’s building.

Taking another deep breath, Buck began making his way down the stairs, smiling slightly when he saw Chimney drinking with a large group of girls and guys. He’s glad at least one of them is having a good time.

Chimney’s face split into a grin as he caught his eye and he hopped up the stairs a couple of steps towards him, raising his hand toward the DJ in a cutting motion to kill the music. “Everybody, hey, hey, hey!” he shouted to the crowded room, packed full of tipsy partiers. He threw his arm around Buck’s shoulders as he continued to yell, “Man of the hour!” Cheers met his announcement and Buck smiled, mostly at his friend’s enthusiasm than anything else. He whooped, waving at the group of guys and gals at the bottom of the stairs as the two of them started walking down. “And ladies, gentlemen, please give this man a proper homecoming!”

_We_ _Are the Champions_ began playing over the speakers and as Buck walked down the stairs. Smiling at the group gathered around him, he gently put his arms around one very attractive woman and an equally attractive man and allowed them to guide him towards one of the tables.

He needed to sell this playboy persona if he was going to keep his secret— no one could know how much he changed on the island.

Pressing a kiss to the cheek on the man at his side, Buck then hopped up onto one of the nearby empty tables with a wide grin on his face. “Thank you very much, everybody!” he shouted, spreading his arms out dramatically as he spoke. 

“Buck. Buck, Buck, Buck,” Chimney called his name, raising a shot glass in the air for him.

Chuckling, Buck reached down and grabbed the shot glass from his friend, lifting it up in the air as a toast before downing it. The burn in his throat was welcome, though he couldn’t help but miss some of the vodka Anatoly had on stash. “I missed tequila!” he shouted, laughing as the crowd started cheering before jumping down from the table to join the crowd.

Chimney smiled at him and patted him on the back as he handed him another drink—some kind of martini. “You know, your bodyguard is pretty hot.” he commented, giving Buck a significant look. “Have you tapped that yet?” 

Buck followed his gaze to where Eddie was standing a few feet away near a wall, looking alert as he scanned the crowd. “No, not yet,” he said regretfully. If only he had time.

“What?” Chimney gave him a surprised look. “Usually you’d have climbed a man like that like a tree already. You sure that island didn’t mess you up?” he teased lightly.

“Shut up, man,” Buck laughed, rolling his eyes at his friend's comment. Though, he conceded, he did have a point. Playboy Buck would be the kind of guy who would have already slept with his bodyguard by now—he did have a reputation, after all. He probably should do something to fix this. He can’t have anyone thinking something is wrong.

“Now, by my estimate, you have not had sex in 1,839 days.” Chimney began, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “I’m more than willing to fix that myself, if you want,” he said with a smirk, “However, as your wingman, I highly recommend that you walk over there, and go get that man.”

Chimney gave him a little shove, prompting a laugh from Buck as he reluctantly began making his way towards his bodyguard. On his way over, though, he spotted his sister from the corner of his eye. With a smile on his face, he started walking his way over to say hi to her—only to stop dead in his tracks. 

In a smooth, subtle motion he watched as she slipped a bundle of cash into the hand of a boy passing by, giving him a flirty smile as he passed her a small baggie in return. The shock he felt when he watched her shove the baggie into her small purse froze him in place for a moment before anger took over.

She can’t do this. He refused to let her follow his bad example and make the same stupid fucking mistakes he made when he was her age.

“Buck, hey!” May smiled when he walked towards her but he ignored her greeting, gently grabbing her arm and pulling her away from her group of friends. “Well, this party is sick.”

“Who let you in here?” he asked, coming to a stop and staring at her with a small frown.

“I-I believe it was somebody who said, ‘Right this way, Miss Buckley’.” she chuckled, and Buck frowned when he realized how obviously tipsy she already was.

“Well, you shouldn’t be here.” he scolded gently.

May scoffed at his words. “Buck, I’m not twelve anymore.”

“No, you’re seventeen.” Buck shot back.

“Buck, I-I love you,” she said, her eyes hardening as she stared at him. “But you can’t come back here and judge me, especially for being just like you.”

“I know that it couldn't have been easy for you when I was away—” Buck began, but May quickly cut him off.

“Away?” she breathed out, laughing slightly but there was no humor in her eyes. “No, you died. My brother and my father died.” her voice got colder as she spoke. “I went to your funerals.”

Buck sighed, staring down at the ground for a moment before he looked back up. “I know.” he ground out through gritted teeth, his heart aching at the reminder that his entire family and everyone he loved believed he had been dead for five years.

“No, you don’t.” May’s voice was starting to grow louder, now, and Buck could see her eyes shining as tears began to form. “Mom had Bobby and I had no one. I had to focus on taking care of Henry because Mom was too ‘busy’.” she scoffed, rolling her eyes. “And you guys act like its cool. Let’s forget about the last five years. Well, I can’t. For me, it’s kind of permanently in there so I’m sorry if I turned out to be some major disappointment but this, me, is the best I could do with what I had to work with.” 

May walked off before he could say anything else, leaving him with nothing else but a sense of guilt and sorrow that he had put her through all of that. She was right. They shouldn’t expect her to just forget everything that had happened. Being a teenager is rough enough—and she had to go through it without him there.

He missed her first kiss.

The thought hit him like a freight train, almost enough to send him stumbling back. He didn’t get a chance to intimidate the first boy who asked her out on a date. He didn’t get to show her all the fun places she could go, all the fun things she could still do around the city even though she was underage.

Buck has missed so much of his little sister’s life—and Henry.

He needed a drink.

Blindly walking away, Buck threw the baggie he had snatched from her purse before she had walked away into the trash. He might’ve missed out on her before, but he was determined to be worthy of being someone she looked up to now.

Glancing around, Buck made eye contact with Eddie a few feet away. He was looking at him with respect in his eyes and gave Buck a small nod. 

Sighing, Buck reluctantly turned away from him. As much as he would like to get into a room alone with the man, he had more pressing matters to attend to right now other than his lack of sex life.

He grunted when he suddenly roughly bumped into someone, automatically reaching out to steady them before he realized who it was. Maddie. “You’re here,” he said, his surprise making him talk without thinking.

“Chimney,” Maddie said suddenly, smiling tightly. “He made the point that we have too many years between us to leave things the way we left them. Is there someplace quieter we could go?”

“Yeah,” Buck said softly, leading her through the crowd of partiers and up the stairs to the lofted area above the party. It was much quieter up here, with only a few stragglers hanging around making out or resting their feet with their friends.

“I’m sorry about saying that you should have been the one who died. That was wrong.” she acknowledged as they slowly walked over to the balcony overlooking the party. 

“If I could trade places with her, I would,” Buck replied honestly.

“About Abby…” Maddie slowed to a stop, gazing at Buck with a hesitant expression on her face. “There’s been something I’ve been afraid to ask but I need to know.”

“Okay.” He’d been waiting for this. He knew it had been coming, but it still didn’t lessen the sting in his heart every time he thought about her.

“When she died…” Maddie began, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. “Did she suffer?”

** _“No, Abby!”_ **

** _“AH! Buck!”_ **

“No,” Buck responded quickly, firmly.

Maddie took a deep breath of relief, the tension in her shoulders loosening slightly. “I think about her every day.” she admitted. 

“Me too.”

“I guess we still have one thing in common then.” she gave him a weak smile before she fell silent for a long moment. “I can’t believe I’m gonna say this, but… if you need someone to talk to about what happened to you, I’m here.”

Tears burned behind his eyes and it took all of Buck’s self-control not to start crying right there because this—this is the woman he remembers, the one that he looked up to as an older sister and the one who treated him like a little brother. He missed her. Some days, she was the only thing that kept him alive on the island. He just wants her back—

His cellphone buzzing in his jacket pocket interrupted the moment and he sighed silently as he fished his phone out. Glancing down, the alert notified him it was ten already and still no money had been transferred to the account from Hunt.

“Something wrong?” Maddie asked curiously.

“I asked somebody to do something,” he said as he looked up, pressing his lips into a thin line. “They didn’t do it.”

He had to do this now.

“Maddie.” he sighed, taking a moment to brace himself before continuing, “You always saw the best in me. Right now, that’s what you’re doing. You’re looking at me and you’re wondering if that island changed me somehow? If it made me a better person? It didn’t. Stay away from me otherwise… I’m just gonna hurt you again. This time it will be worse.” he finished quietly, taking a couple of steps backward.

_ I’m sorry. Please forgive me. This is the only way I know how to keep you safe and if anything ever happens to you because of me I would never forgive myself. _

“Gotta roll,” he said instead, forcing his customary smug smile on his face. “I got five years of debauchery to catch up on!”

“You know what, Evan?” Maddie said after a minute of silence, her gray eyes harder than steel. “You’re wrong. That island did change you. At least now you’re honest.” She walked off, anger evident in every step that she took as she walked away from him.

Buck bowed his head once she disappeared, feeling a couple of tears drip down his cheek as he gave himself a moment. He didn't want to do this. He wanted to tell her so bad—wanted to tell her everything that happened on that island. Every horrible, terrible thing he did and have her hold him and tell him he was safe now and that he wasn’t any of those terrible things—

Except he was.

Inhaling sharply, Buck wiped the tears off his cheek and composed himself. He had work he needed to do—he could cry about this later.

Taking the stairs two at a time, Buck slipped into one of the back hallways, intent on leaving the party quietly behind him so he could go confront Hunt. 

“Something I can help you with, sir?”

Why couldn’t anything ever be easy for him?

Sighing, Buck stopped in his tracks and turned around to see Eddie leaning casually against the wall behind him, pretending to look busy by messing with his cuff. “I just wanted a second to myself.” he lied, giving Eddie a tight smile.

“I would believe you, Mr. Buckley if you weren’t so full of crap,” Eddie responded, raising an eyebrow at him as he gestured to the door on his left. “Party’s this way.”

Fine. Guess they were doing this the hard way.

Raising his hands in defeat, Buck walked over to the door and reached out to open in it. He hummed in fake disappointment as he pretended it was locked, taking a step to the side and shrugging at Eddie. “It’s locked.”

Eddie scoffed softly and rolled his eyes, reaching around Buck to open the door himself.

Sufficiently distracted, Buck slid his arm under Eddie’s left arm and wrapped his arm around his throat, using his other hand to ensure he couldn’t escape. He felt a bit bad, knocking his bodyguard out like this, but he really had no other choice—at least, that’s what he told himself as he gently sat the now unconscious Eddie on the floor by the door.

He’d be fine. Probably pretty pissed off though, but, well, Buck would cross that bridge when he came to it.

xxx

Getting into the building was easier than he anticipated it was going to be. As much as he respected the police, it was easy to see they didn’t think the hooded guy was worth a full perimeter or was even serious threat—it was laughably sad to sneak past a couple of rookies chatting up a couple of girls from his party.

The elevator was the only way up to the office of Adam Hunt. It was likely to be heavily guarde, if Hunt was one thing it was extremely paranoid, but that was alright. Buck was always up for a challenge.

Taking out his phone as he rode the elevator to the top, Buck waited until just before the elevator was about to arrive before he activated the taser he placed near the circuit box of the building before hand, cutting off all power to the top floor of the building. With the building bathed in darkness, he made his move.

Knocking an arrow back in his bow, Buck opened the elevator door with a soft ‘ding’ and immediately let the arrow fly, striking one of the security men in the chest. He stepped out of the elevator and smacked the guy standing guard to his left with the edge of his bow, knocking him unconscious onto the ground. He spun and turned to the man to his right, hitting him in the face the the flat of his bow before grabbing his arm and flipping him onto the ground.

Running towards the wall, Buck threw his bow at another man, smirking as the impact knocked him off his feet when it made contact with his face. He continued running and jumped off the wall to avoid gunfire, leaping and pushing himself off the wall and using the momentum to wrap his legs around the throat of a fourth security guard running towards him. The action took them both onto the ground and Buck snapped his neck with his thighs before rolling across the floor and grabbing his bow, taking cover behind one of the columns against the wall as a fifth man started shooting at him from in front of the large glass doors.

Buck held his bow close to his body, patiently waiting until he heard him run out of ammo and start to reload before he made his move. He quickly ran from behind the pillar up the hallway, leaping through the air and kicking the guard straight in the chest and sending him crashing through the glass double doors.

He took cover at the edge of the door frame when more gunshots rang out, shooting the guard who he had just kicked through the door. When they stopped, he turned and revealed himself, quickly shooting one of the three security men in the heart. 

Using the distraction to his advantage, he lashed twice out with his bow at the throat of the unaware guard to his left, effectively sending him down to the ground. Then in one smooth motion, he knocked another arrow and fired it just to the left of Hunt, missing him by barely a foot and hitting the wooden cabinets behind him. 

Hunt turned and watched the arrow go by with wide eyes and by the time he had turned around, Buck already had stepped closer and had an arrow aimed at his heart. 

“You missed,” Hunt scoffed lightly, trying to hide his fear under false bravado.

“Really?” Buck asked, barely holding back a smirk. 

Then suddenly he was stumbling back as pain rocketed through his jaw and his bow was being thrown from his hands. Buck quickly raised his hands to block the next bunch and found himself locked in a fistfight.

He grunted when the guard kneed him in the stomach, barely managing to twist out of the way before he got to do it again. Buck swung out and felt his hand make contact with the guards face before he grabbed his arm, locking it around his back and forcibly flipping him over onto the glass table behind him.

The glass stung from where it cut into his uniform while they struggled. Buck gritted his teeth, maneuvering his body as he ducked another punch and wrapped his thighs around the guards throat in an attempt to strangle him.

Grunting, they both struggled before finally rolling away from each other and Buck rolled across the room as the guard came racing towards him. As he leapt to his feet, Buck kicked out at the face of the guard sending him stumbling backwards a couple of feet. 

Damnit, he needed to end this.

Leaping up into the air towards the guard, Buck twisted his legs around the guard’s throat, throwing him onto the ground behind him before he leapt back up onto his feet.

The guard snarled at him as he got back up, unsheathing a knife from his side and lunging towards Buck. Easily sidestepping out of the way, Buck shoved at his back and sent him head first into a very expensive looking vase, probably pissing him off even more. Buck was pretty good at doing that.

The guard spun around and lunged at him again which Buck promptly blocked with his arm and then punched him in the face, followed by a quick elbow to the gut as he ducked down to avoid a wild swing with the knife. The guard growled and swung at him again with the knife but this time Buck caught his arm by the forearm and bicep and slammed him to the ground, grimacing at the loud crack and the scream the guard made as his arm broke from the force of the impact.

He’s wasted too much time. The police would be here any second. He needed to get out of here.

Spinning around, Buck raced across the room towards his bow when he heard the guard grunt and start firing towards him. He quickly leaped over the desk to try and avoid the gunfire, turning as he jumped and flinging a small arrow from his wrist cuff towards the guard before he crashed on the other side of the desk.

He couldn’t help the groan of pain that escaped his mouth as agony blossomed on his abdomen—he’s never been more grateful for his kevlar vest. He reached out for his bow and quickly tugged his hood back into place when he heard several footsteps and shouts growing closer to him. 

“Lay down your weapons or we will open fire!”

Damnit. Police.

Light illuminated the room as officers surveyed the scene from the door with their weapons. Buck crouched behind the desk and aimed carefully before firing an arrow at the lights on the police officers’ guns. 

Using the momentary distraction of darkness, Buck sprinted across the room as someone fired several rounds in his direction before jumping at one of the windows, using his body to break the glass and fly through. He grunted as he fell, barely managing to catch himself on the cable wire he had previously put in place and zip-lined down the cable across the street to the roof of the building where his party was being held.

He grunted as he landed on his feet, stumbling slightly before rushing off into the stairwell of the building. He didn’t have long, he thought as he quickly snuck his way back inside the storage closet where he had been hiding his gear. The police would be here soon—and he needed to confront them to throw off any suspicion.

In what was probably the quickest change of clothing of his life, Buck quickly scrubbed off the grease paint with one of the make up wipes he had snatched from May’s bathroom before making his way back to the party. He walked back into the thick of everything just as the music cut off. Shouts and complaints shouted in the air towards the entrance where he could make out the police walking in.

“—you here.” Buck caught sight of Detective Lance speaking to Chimney with his patented glare on his face. “Did you roofie anyone special, huh?”

Thankfully, Chimney didn’t respond as Buck walked up to his side, pressing his hand gently against the small of his back in a silent show of support. “Detective, it’s a private party.” he said.

“Yeah, well, there was an incident at Adam Hunt’s building tonight.” he explained through narrowed eyes. “Do you know anything about that?”

“Who’s Adam Hunt?” Buck asked, pretending to be confused as he tilted his head to the side slightly. Playboy Buck never would’ve bothered himself with learning the names of anyone expect who he would be sleeping with that night.

“He’s a millionaire.” The detective said shortly. “Bottom-feeder, and I’m kind of surprised you aren’t friends.”

“I’ve been out of town for a while,” Buck said with a tight smile, ignoring the bubbling anger that arose at the comment.

“Yeah. Well, he just got attacked by the guy with the hood, the guy that saved your ass the other day.” Detective Lance said, a hint of suspicion in his eyes.

“The hood guy!” Buck perked up, glancing at the other detective who walked up to Lance’s side. “You find him? I’m gonna offer an award.” he decided, turning around and raising his voice at the party of people behind him. “Hey, everybody.” he shouted, raising his hand in the air. “Two million dollars to anybody that can find a nut bar in a green hood!”

The crowd cheered at his declaration, many people raising their glasses in a toast as they yelled.

That oughta keep them busy for a while, he thought, smirking slightly as he turned back around to face the detective. 

Lance narrowed his eyes, anger clear in his expression as he took a step forward until he was almost nose to nose with Buck. “Did you even try to save her?”

“Okay. Let’s go partner.” The other detective grabbed Lance’s arm, gently pulling him away from Buck.

“Did you even try to save my daughter?” Detective Lance asked, his voice raising as he ignored his partner and glared at Buck.

“Abby wouldn't want this.” His partner said quietly, glancing from Buck back to Lance with an unreadable expression on his face.

“It’s not—” Lance started, but his partner caught him off, gently forcing him backwards a couple of steps away from Buck. “Partner, let’s go. It’s alright. Let’s go.” 

Lance pressed his lips into a thin line as he slowly started walking backwards but the pain in his eyes made Buck look away first and stare down at the ground. 

He wasn’t wrong. It was his fault Abby was dead. It was his fault that she drowned. He just—the familiar grief and pain washed over him so strong he had to close his eyes for a moment and take a deep breath so it didn't overwhelm him again. But he couldn’t say he wasn’t glad she was dead. Everything that he went through—he was glad she didn’t have to suffer the way he did, and that was one thing he would never regret.

Buck could feel Chimney’s eyes on him—not just Chimney’s but everyones. He couldn’t lose it here. Not now. Playboy Buck would be unfazed. Walking past Chimney, Buck took a deep breath as he climbed up onto one of the tables and plastered a smile on his face, dramatically spreading his arms out as he yelled, “It’s way too quiet in here! This is a party!”

The crowd cheered and he whooped along with them as the music started back up and the party came back to life. Never let it be said Buck couldn’t keep a good party going.

He met with Chimney as he hopped down from the table, taking the offered drink gratefully. His side ached from where the bullet had hit him in the chest earlier.

“Some coincidence.” Chimney commented casually. “I mean, you asking to have your party here and Hunt getting robbed right next door and by the same guy who rescued us at the warehouse.”

Shit. Of course, Chimney would start asking questions, he was  _ extremely _ smart after all, but Buck really, really needed him to not question this.

“If I were you, Chimney,” Buck stated as he sipped his martini, “I’d just be glad you're alive.”

There must have been something on his face, or something hard in his voice that Chimney noticed because he paused, lowering his own drink and giving Buck a concerned look. “What… happened to you on that island?” 

“A lot.” Buck said shortly, holding Chimney’s gaze for a moment before he forced himself to turn and walk away. He wanted nothing more than to just spill everything that he went through to his best friend—for him to cry in his arms and just be  _ comforted _ for once in five long years but he couldn’t risk it.

Chimney would hate him.

xxx

Back in his base the next day, Buck activated the transfer via the arrow he had flung in Hunt’s office. It was satisfying to watch all of the forty million dollars Hunt had stolen go back into the accounts of the people he had stolen it from.

The first name—crossed off the list.

_ Adam Hunt _ _ . _

He would keep his promise to his father. 

** _‘Right my wrongs. Survive.’_ **

** _‘No! No!’_ **

** _BANG_ **

Maddie said the island changed him. She has no idea how much. 

There are many more names on the list, those who rule his city through intimidation and fear. 

Every last one of them will wish he had died on that island.


	2. i'm not my father

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally getting chapter two up! I'm really excited about this one, but I'm even more excited for the third chapter. Thank you to everyone sticking with the story, and to anyone out there just discovering this, hope you've enjoyed it so far!
> 
> Kudos warm my heart and I would love to hear your thoughts on the chapter and the direction of the story! Hope everyone had a happy holiday, and happy new year!!!!

The day he went missing was the day he died. Five years in hell forged him into a weapon which he uses to honor the vow he made to his father who sacrificed his life for him. In his final moments, he told Buck the truth. That their family’s wealth had been built on the suffering of others. They failed their city and that it was up to him to save it and right his father’s wrongs.

But to do that without endangering the people closest to him, he has to be someone else. He has to be _something_ else.

“Who’s that?”

“Where’d he come from?”

Face hidden in the shadows of his hood, Buck straightened to his feet from the crouched position he landed in, body tensed and ready as the bodyguards came running at him. The first one tried to throw a punch at him, which he deflected easily, grabbing hold of the man’s wrist and punching him twice in quick succession with the handle of his bow he had gripped in his other hand.

Buck threw him behind him to the ground as three more men approached him. He threw a punch at one of the men, grimacing when the guy ducked and missed contact, but he had no time to focus on that. He ducked to avoid a kick to the head and struck the second guy’s leg while his back was turned, sending him tumbling to the ground.

The punch from the third man was avoided easily as well and a quick jab to his solar plexus left him gasping for air and stumbling backward on the rooftop pavement. He blocked a kick from the first guy with his leg and punched him across the jaw, feeling more than a little satisfied when he felt it crack slightly underneath his knuckles. He struck out with his bow at the second guy again in the neck when he lunged at him, spinning around and kicking the third guy in the chest with his leg when he saw him rising to his feet out of the corner of his eye. In front of him, he heard the sound of a gun cocking and immediately knocked an arrow and shot the man with the gun in the chest.

Five down.

“Go get the chopper back now.” One of the security guards yelled as Buck knocked another arrow in his bow.

A battle cry off to his left had him turning to see one of the men had gotten up and was running towards him, so Buck easily let the arrow fly, shooting him right in the shoulder and sending him down to the ground.

“Who’s this guy?”

Buck turned back towards Redman with another arrow knocked, shooting another security guard standing next to Redman in the leg. He stalked towards the last bodyguard standing, flipping his bow around in his hand and using the handle to punch the guy in the face, knocking him out cold on the ground below him.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Please!” Redman pleaded as Buck turned and started stalking towards him, frantically backing up and trying to get away from him. “Wait, wait.”

Buck ignored his pleads, grabbing hold of his shirt collar and throwing him off the side of the ledge they were on and onto one of the large fans below them. He jumped after him, landing right next to the man’s head and used his heel to kick the safety grate off the top of the fan. Bending down, Buck grabbed hold of the back of Redman’s shirt and shoved his face close to the fan—not close enough to injure, but enough to make the threat clear.

“Marcus Redman,” Buck growled out overtop of Redman’s pathetic whimpering, “you failed this city.”

“Please, don’t!” Redman cried out, struggling to escape Buck’s hold. “Please! Don’t!”

“Cell phone, inside pocket, call your partner.” Buck continued. “Tell him to give those pensioners _back_ their money. Do it _now_.”

Redman continued to whimper and plea underneath him, but Buck was confident he had gotten the message. Roughly letting go of the back of Redman’s shirt, Buck jumped off of the fan and walked across the rooftop, effectively disappearing into the night.

<strike>**_Marcus Redman_**.</strike>

Another name crossed off the list.

xxx

Adjusting the cuff on his sleeve, Buck looked up as he walked into the seating area to his mom sitting in one of their chairs in front of the television while Bobby and May stood around the room, all of them focused on the television.

“Over the past fifteen years,” the newscaster was saying, “Mr. Redman has withdrawn more than thirty million dollars from the Plan’s account. Mr. Redman claims refunding the Halcyon Pension Plan has always been his intent. But sources say Redman was coerced by the vigilante…” the newscaster continued, a picture of the hand-drawn vigilante Buck had given to the police popping up on the screen.

“This guy gets more air-time than the Kardashians, right?” Buck chuckled, lifting his hand to gesture at the television.

“Five years on an island and you still know who they are,” May stated, looking bemused with her arms crossed over her chest bu not surprised.

“I’ve been catchin’ up.” Buck shrugged. “It’s nice to see how much our culture has improved while I was away.”

Bobby cracked a tiny smile at that statement while Mom just gave a little sigh. “But the city used to be different. People used to feel safe.”

“Aw, what’s the matter mom,” May teased lightly. “Afraid we’re going to be next?”

“Do you have any questions about today, Evan?” Bobby asked, changing the subject as Mom rose to her feet. “It’s a simple proof-of-life declaration,” he explained, glancing at Mom before he returned his gaze to Buck. “You just read out a brief, prepared statement to the judge and then your death-in-absentia judgment will be voided.”

“It’s fine, Bobby,” Buck reassured him, a little touched at the concern he was showing for him. “I’ve been in a courtroom before.”

“Four times by my estimate.”

Buck couldn’t hold back the exasperated smile that formed on his face when he heard Chimney walk in, glancing over and watching as his friend came towards them.

“You know, there was the DUI, the assault on that paparazzi douchebag,” he continued, listing off the times on his fingers. “stealing that taxi which was just awesome, by the way,” Chimney grinned as he stood next to Buck, placing his hand on his shoulder. “And who could forget peeing on the cop?”

“I wish everyone would.” Mom said with a pointed glance at the two of them while Bobby draped her coat over her shoulders.

“I’d hang, but we’re headed to court,” Buck said, placing his hand on top of Chimney’s for a brief second.

“I know,” Chimney replied, giving him an amused glance. “that’s why I’m here. My best friend is getting legally resurrected. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

“Okay. What about you?” Buck directed his question towards May. “You comin’ along?”

“Uh, I think the first four times of you in court was enough for me,” May answered quietly, giving him a small smile before she left the room.

“Fair enough.” Buck murmured.

“Can I come, Bucky?” Buck turned around to see Harry standing at the edge of the doorframe to the living room, his eyes wide and full of anxious hope with a teddy bear clutched tightly in his arms.

“Oh, you’d be pretty bored, little bro,” Buck said, squatting down to his knees as Harry slowly walked towards him. “But, I’ve got something even better for you to start while I’m gone.”

“Really?” Harry asked, his eyes lighting up as he clutched his bear a little tighter to his chest.

Buck grinned. “Yeah really. Remember, before I left, we were gonna build a treehouse in the back yard?” At Harry’s furious nod, Buck continued, “Well, I want you to go pick out a tree and draw what you want the treehouse to look like, and when I get back, we can start building it. How’s that sound?”

“Yes!” Harry cheered, throwing his arms around Buck’s neck and clinging to him in a tight hug. “It’ll be the bestest tree house ever! I’ll start right now!” he promised eagerly, his eyes shining happily before he took off through the mansion, nearly running into Eddie as the man walked into the room.

“Sorry!” he squeaked out, patting Eddie’s leg before sprinting off again.

Buck shook his head fondly as he rose to his feet, feeling his cheeks burn a probably embarrassing red at the slightly bemused look Eddie was giving him.

“Mrs. Buckley?” Eddie said, his gaze lingering on Buck for a minute before he smiled politely at his Mom and Bobby. “Car’s ready.”

Sighing softly, Buck followed his Mom, Bobby, and Chimney to the car. He had a feeling this wasn’t going to be the most pleasant experience he's ever had in a court. He wished he didn’t have to. Prepared statement or not, the less he had to think about his time on the island, the better off everyone was. Thinking about it brought bad nightmares and anxiety in his chest that he could never quite seem to shake.

_“Mr. Buckley!”_

_“Mr. Buckley!”_

_“Can we get a comment, sir?”_

Alright, so it was a lot worse than he thought it was going to be. He was bombarded with reporters and cameras and microphones in his face the second he stepped out of the car. Eddie kept tightly to his left, doing his best to shield him from the reporters he could, but even with him and Chimney tightly holding his hand behind him, Buck could feel the panic and anxiety clawing at his throat. It was too loud, there were too many people screaming—

“—return to civilization after five years of—”

“Can you tell us what happened on that island, Mr. Buckley?”

Abby’s scream as the boat capsized echoed in his ears. For a second, he could have sworn he felt the same kind of weightlessness he first felt when the boat started to tip over.

“Tell us about the accident!”

“You spent five years on an island—”

** _“Abby! No!_ **

** _“Buck!”_ **

The relief Buck felt at finally getting into the courthouse away from the reporters was palpable. Chimney held his hand tightly as they walked through the door together and Buck waved his parents on as he backed himself into a dark, quiet corner of the courthouse to just _breathe_. He put his hands in his head and leaned forward slightly struggling to control his breathing but it was like he’d forgot how to do any of his mediation practices. He just—He couldn’t seem to get enough air into his lungs and he could still hear the screams in his ear, the bombs exploding just feet behind him, the—

Suddenly, he felt a strong, thumping rhythm underneath his fingers. It was strong and steady, soothing to the chaos screaming in his mind and he struggled to focus on it.

“—ethe, Evan. Deep breaths.”

An order. Right. Buck could follow that order. He forced himself to be conscious of his breathing, tried to pull in a deep breath but the panic in his chest seemed like it was going to swallow him whole. He could feel his head getting foggy from the lack of oxygen, but he—

“Buck, where are you at? Can you describe it to me?”

“T-The courthouse,” Buck said through gritted teeth, his hands curling tighter into his curls.

“Okay, good. What does it smell like?”

“I-I don’t—” Buck wheezed, struggling to focus. “Clean. Polish.” He felt his breaths deepen and his chest expand as his breaths grew easier to take. “Chimney.”

“Yeah. Chimney’s right here, Buck. You’re safe, here at the courthouse, about to go get your life back.” Eddie’s voice, because Buck recognized it as Eddie’s now, seemed surprisingly gentle and calm, as if this wasn’t the first time he’s had to do something like this.

“Chim.” Buck loosened his hold on his hair and slowly opened his eyes. Eddie and Chimney were both standing in front of him, Eddie looking slightly concerned and Chimney looking closer to a full-blown panic attack like Buck just had.

Leaning back against the wall behind him, Buck let out a long breath and briefly closed his eyes. “Sorry. Sorry,” he repeated, opening his eyes again. “That was just… a lot, outside,” he said, averting his eyes from the two and staring at the ground. His chest still ached from the attack and he was a little worried he might all if he tried to take a step forward right now. He wished he could say that was the first time that had ever happened, but…

“You alright, Buck?” Chimney asked, hesitantly stepping forward and grabbing Buck’s hand tightly.

“Yeah, I’m fine now.” Buck glanced up and gave his friend a weak smile.

The three of them stood in silence for a few moments, long enough for Buck to feel like his lungs weren’t burning any longer and his hands weren’t quite as shaky anymore. Then, Eddie spoke up, “Mr. Buckley, if you’re feeling well now, we should probably get you to the courtroom.”

“Right.” Buck murmured, sighing a little and squeezing Chim’s hand for comfort as he stood back on his feet and started walking to the courtroom.

xxx

“There was a storm.” Buck began quietly, curling his hands tightly against his pant sleeve to try and curb some of the anxiety storming through him. “The boat went down. I was the only survivor.” He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment as the memory of his father assaulted him.

** _“She’s not there. She’s not there!_ **

** _“Abby!”_ **

Buck opened his eyes again, staring as calmly as he could at the judge he was standing in front of. “My father didn’t make it.”

** _“No!”_ **

** _BANG!_ **

“I almost died, I—” His throat closed up for a brief second. “I thought that I had, ‘cause I spent… so many days… on that life raft before I saw the island.”

He remembers fighting with himself, unwilling to toss his father’s body overboard, and trying not to get sick as the smell of decaying flesh progressed over the following days. He remembers crying and screaming and sobbing over his father’s body until he exhausted himself—day after day after day. The rations almost weren’t enough. He’d barely had enough strength to open his eyes when he saw the island—didn’t believe it was anything more than a mirage at first.

“When I reached it, I knew…” Buck continued, staring down at his hands clenched together in front of him. “I knew that I was gonna have to live for both of us.” He turned his gaze back up to the judge, swallowing thickly the emotion choking his throat. “And in those five years…it was that _one thought_… that kept me going.”

** _“Survive.”_ **

There was a brief moment of silence before his lawyer stood from her chair. “Your honor, we move to vitiate the death-in-absentia filed after Evan’s disappearance at sea aboard the Buckley’s Gambit five years ago.” She moved around the desk as she spoke until she came to a stop at Buck’s side. “Unfortunately, we will not be requesting that the declaration of death filed for the petitioner’s father, Robert Buckley, be rescinded. The Buckley family is only entitled to one miracle, I’m afraid.” she finished solemnly.

Once the legality paperwork was finished and the judge signed off on it, Buck quietly followed the rest of his family out of the courtroom and down the gorgeous marble staircase of the courthouse.

“Now, onto the offices.” Mom said, glancing back over her shoulder at him. “Everyone is waiting to meet you there.”

“Uh, mom,” Buck reached out to touch her arm and stop her, licking his lips nervously. “That was a… a little bit heavier than I was expecting it to be,” he explained quietly, moving his arm back to his side to avoid attention towards his shaking hands. “Can we do that tomorrow? Please?”

Mom shared a look with Bobby before reaching out and resting her hand on Buck’s cheek. “Of course, sweetie,” she murmured, her eyes soft and understanding.

“Thank you,” Buck mumbled, leaning into her touch for a moment before she pressed a soft kiss to his cheek and then walked down the stairs with Bobby, leaving him and Chimney alone.

“Last week, you couldn’t wait to get to the company,” Chimney said, giving him a look as they slowly followed Buck’s parents down the stairs.

“Chimney, I’d just spent five years away from civilization. I wasn’t exactly thinking straight.” He started, rounding the corner as they got to the bottom of the stairs. “I—Hi.” Buck felt himself freeze in place when he almost walked into Maddie, his tongue suddenly feeling like a giant weight in his mouth he was unable to move.

“What are you doing here?” Maddie asked, her gaze flicking from Buck to Chimney and back. Behind her, one of the women Buck recognized from the CNRI building and another woman walked up.

“Oh, uh,” Buck shook his head, trying desperately to remember how to talk. “They were bringing me back from the dead. Legally speaking. What are you doing here?”

“My job,” Maddie responded, sounding more than a little annoyed.

_Her job. As a lawyer. Which she was now. God, of course, idiot._

“Right,” Buck responded quietly, feeling his cheeks heat up.

“More like the DA’s.” The lawyer-looking woman from behind Maddie spoke up, smiling kindly and looking like she was trying to defuse the situation.

“Oh, where are my manners. Hi, Evan Buckley.” Buck reached out his hand with a smile to introduce himself to the woman he didn’t know.

“Uh, Emily Nocenti.” The blonde-haired woman stuttered slightly, shaking his hand.

“Evan just got back from five years on an uncharted island. Before that, he was sleeping with my sister.” Maddie explained to Emily in a falsely cheery voice, the hard gaze she gave Buck distinctly contrasting her tone. “He was with her when she died, and last week he told me, to stay away from him. It was really good advice. Excuse me.” She finished curtly, pushing past Buck and Chimney.

“It was nice to meet you,” Emily said politely but looking more than a little confused.

“Yeah. Let’s go.” Maddie’s lawyer friend murmured, gently guiding Emily past the two of them and up the stairs.

“Come on, buddy, shake it off.” Chimney threw his arm around Buck’s shoulder, not giving him a chance to overthink what had just happened. “Let’s go.”

Buck reluctantly allowed Chimney to guide him out of the courthouse, deciding that, yeah, he probably should go, no matter how much he wants to run after Maddie and apologize. He can’t. He has to keep her safe. He made his decision, now he has to deal with the consequences. No matter how much they hurt.

“Mr. Somers…”

Buck came to a stop on the top of the stairs outside the courthouse when he saw a bunch of reporters gathered around a businessman, frowning to himself at the name. Somers… It sounded familiar. Wasn’t that name on his list?

“I don’t know what I’ve done to earn this witch-hunt from Miss Lance and her bosses at the CNRI.” Somers was saying to the press, sounding every bit the calm and collected businessman he appeared. “But I can tell you this,” he continued. “I am an honest businessman and I will fight this slander to my last dime and breath. That’s all I have to say. Thank you.”

Somers walked off, some of the press trailing behind him, shouting for another statement. Taking a deep breath, Buck began walking down the steps, wincing slightly when one reporter yelled, “There’s Mr. Buckley!”

The crowd of reporters and cameras swarmed on him like a shark to a drop of blood in the water, shouting more questions and shoving more microphones and cameras in his face. “Tell us what happened inside, Mr. Buckley.”

Buck had never been more grateful to see Eddie jogging up towards him, immediately fitting against his side to keep back some of the reporters. “Please, step back, everybody. Please.” Eddie ordered, his hand settling firmly against the small of Eddie’s back to guide him to the car.

The reporters paid him no mind, particularly one photographer with a camera he was eager to shove in Buck’s face. One Buck slid into the car, and the door was shut behind him, as he climbed into the driver’s seat he heard Eddie say, “Hey, man. I’ll make you swallow that Nikon! Back!”

The comment warmed him, even though he knew it was just Eddie doing his job. But despite how much he liked his bodyguard, he needed to be alone right now. He wasn’t lying to his mother when he told her that session was a lot heavier than he thought it was going to be. Especially after the panic attack he had earlier, his emotions and thoughts were all over the place and that—that was a dangerous place for him to be. He needed to ground himself to something.

With only a little guilt, Buck drove off from Eddie and Chimney, leaving nothing but a cloud of fumes in his wake.

Buck spent the next several hours doing little else other than working out. He pushed his body as far as it could go, to the point of exhaustion, and then he kept going. Every punch he landed on the punching bag, every inch he climbed on the climbing rope, every set he went on the salmon ladder—every second kept him from thinking about the worst five years of his life. The focus needed and physical exhaustion served as a kind of mediation, clearing his mind and allowing him to focus on what mattered right now.

Martin Somers.

Maddie’s targeted the worst of Starling City so it’s no surprise his name is on his father’s list. The city’s police and the DA can’t stop him. Or won’t. Maddie thinks she’s the only one willing to bring him to justice.

She’s wrong.

xxxx

“You, listen up.”

Buck watched through narrowed eyes from his perch up in the rafters as Martin Somers stalked down the aisle of his warehouse, hand raised and pointing at the man wearing the suit in front of his desk. “The longer this goes on, the more likely the media is gonna crucify me. You shut this trial down, do you understand me?” he snarled.

Taking that as his cue, Buck released the arrow he had knocked at the overhead light providing light to the warehouse, sending the room into and almost complete darkness, aside from the brief flickering of the broken lights. Quickly and efficiently, Buck shot arrows at the two security guards and the businessman, sending all three of them quickly down to the ground.

Then, using his dart cuff, Buck raised his arm and carefully aimed and shot Somers with a tranq dart, waiting until he fell to the ground to jump from his perch. He quickly grabbed his arrows from the three men he shot before grabbing Somer’s shirt and dragging him across the floor and out of the warehouse.

Outside on the pier, Buck wrapped a tight cord around Somers’ feet and tossed the other end over a large metal beam. He grunted slightly as he hauled the man up, raising him high enough into the air that their faces were level when he was hanging upside down and quickly tied it off. The tranq would wear off any second, he hadn’t given him that strong of a dose, so Buck took a few steps back.

And waited.

Somers swung back and forth slightly from the wind as he slowly gained consciousness and he groaned as his eyes started to open.

“Martin Somers,” Buck growled out loudly, his voice visibly shocking the man into a state of alertness.

“Who the hell are you?” Somers yelled, terror coloring his voice.

“You’ve failed this city.” Buck continued, ignoring his question as he knocked an arrow in his bow.

“No!” Somers yelled, repeating the word as a mantra and screaming when Buck shot the arrow, narrowly missing him by a couple of inches as he swung by.

“You’re gonna testify in that trial.” Buck threatened. “You’re gonna confess to having Victor Nocenti killed. There won’t be a second warning.” In a smooth, single motion, he knocked another arrow in his bow and fired it at Somers, feeling vaguely satisfied as the man screamed and held his hand up to his face.

A small scratch to remind him of their conversation, courtesy of the city’s vigilante.

xxx

When Buck got back home, he wanted to do nothing more but curl up on the floor with maybe a blanket or something and try to fall asleep. It wasn’t often that he craved sleep, but… it’s been a longer day than he was prepared for, and his body and mind are both exhausted. So to hear his Mom lecturing his bodyguard, well…

“—do you think my son is going on these chaperone-less excursions?”

He forced himself not to sigh and roll his eyes at his mom’s comments, despite how well-intentioned they might be. Yes, he was attacked a week or so ago, but he’s fine now! He’s an adult, he doesn’t need a bodyguard anymore, despite his mother’s concerns for him.

“Ma’am, I truly don’t know,” Eddie replied honestly, always the polite gentleman, no matter how much shit Buck puts him through.

“And he truly doesn’t,” Buck said, walking into the room with a forced smile on his face.

“Then perhaps you'd like to share with me you know, where it is you run off to.” Mom said, crossing her arms over her chest and giving him The Look.

Buck chuckled, the already preplanned answer flowing from his mouth as smoothly as water. “Mom, I’ve been alone for five years.”

“I know that, Evan,” Mom began, lowering her arms and her expression turning sad.

“Mom.” Buck interrupted her, giving her a significant look of his own. “Alone.”

“I see.” Mom said stiffly after a moment, looking more than a little uncomfortable.

“I promise to introduce her if it ever gets to the, uh, exchanging first names stage.” He promised, keeping the easy smile on his face even as he died a little inside. He didn’t want Eddie to see this side of him. But, it was better than him seeing his darker side. For now.

“No, I’d rather you promise to take Mr. Diaz with you on your next rendezvous,” she said, her face more serious than Buck has seen her in a long time as she walked up to him. “It’s not safe, you’ve already been abducted once. There is a maniac out there, hunting the wealthy.”

“That maniac saved my life.” Buck pointed out quietly.

“This isn’t a game, Evan! I lost you once.” her voice broke slightly, her eyes shining with the beginnings of unshed tears. “And I am not going through that again.”

“Okay.” Buck murmured, trying not to appear as taken aback as he felt. He wasn’t… expecting such a push back on this. He knew his mother loved him, yeah, but… he supposed after going so long without someone watching out for you, he forgot what it felt like. “Eds is my guy.”

“Thank you.” Mom sighed, reaching up and pressing a soft kiss against his cheek before she walked off, subtly reaching up to wipe at her eyes as she left.

Damnit, he made her cry. What kind of son was he?

“Sorry to give you so much grief.” Buck directed at Eddie, meeting his gaze for a brief moment before he glanced away.

“I served three tours in Afghanistan, Mr. Buckley,” Eddie said, buttoning up his suit as he walked towards him to the exit. “You don’t even come close to my definition of grief. But I tell you what,” he paused, turning to look at Buck. “You ditch me one more time and no one will have to fire me.”

Buck gave him a nod of understanding, trying to ignore the tight feeling in his chest as he watched Eddie walk away. In another place, at another time… Buck blinked himself out of his thoughts when he saw May walk through the foyer.“Hey, where you goin’?”

She was wearing a very flattering pink dress and was all dolled up with someplace to go. “Uh, somewhere loud and smoky,” she said, coming to a stop across from him. “And don’t bother trying to pickpocket my stash this time ‘cause I’m gonna go get drunk instead.”

“May…” Buck sighed softly, walking towards her slowly. “Do you think this is what dad would want for you?”

“Dead people don’t want anything,” May replied flatly. “It’s one of the benefits of being dead.”

“I was dead,” Buck said quietly. “And I wanted a lot.”

“Except for your family.” May narrowed her eyes, taking a couple of steps towards him with her arms crossed over her chest. “You’ve been home a week and all you do is avoid Mom, avoid Harry, ignore Bobby, and judge me. Don’t wait up.” Her words had every bite he knew she wanted them to as she left, leaving Buck at a loss for words once again.

He wished he knew what to do. His little sister was all grown up now, he missed so much, and he didn’t even know where to begin to fix all the time they had lost together.

xxx

“As you can see, Evan, we’ve modernized quite a bit,” Bobby explained as they reached the top floor of Buckley’s Consolidated.

Buck let out a low whistle, unable to hide how impressed he was as he looked around the place. Bobby wasn’t kidding when he said they’d modernized. Gorgeous marbled green and black tiles spread across the floor and even across the walls in some places that weren’t lined with glass or tinted windows.

With his mom on his arm and Eddie trailing behind them, Buck followed Bobby out of the elevator and into the building. He gave a couple of girls who walked past a flirtatious smile, winking at the pretty blonde one. His mom just rolled her eyes fondly and pulled him along to Bobby’s glass-enclosed office. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

“Yes, I am.” Buck grinned.

“I remember when your father used to bring you here when you were a boy,” Bobby said as he held the door open for them. “You always were so excited.”

“You always let me drink soda in the office,” Buck said, glancing at Bobby with a grin as he walked around the room.

“Ah! So that’s why you enjoyed coming.” Mom teased.

“The Buckley Consolidated’s success of late is a result of its targeted diversification.” Bobby began explaining, fighting back a smile as he tried to stay on topic. “We have been making impressive inroads in cutting-edge fields like bio-tech and clean energy.”

“That’s neat.” Buck nodded like he was listening, distracted as he raised his hand to catch the attention of the secretary on the other side of the glass. “Excuse me? Can I get a-a sparkling water or something cold, please?”

“Sweetheart, Evan,” Mom reached out towards him to get his attention. “Bobby and I have something to discuss with you. Come, please sit.” she gestured towards the comfortable looking chairs set up very nicely in the middle of the office.

“Mom, it makes me nervous when you ask me to sit down,” Buck said, glancing between the two of them curiously.

Mom sighed, sharing a look with Bobby before she nodded slightly and he started speaking. “The company’s about to break ground on a new site for the Applied Sciences division. And we would like to honor your father by dedicating the building in his name.”

“Nice.” Buck nodded, smiling a little. He thinks his dad would like that. Despite his mistakes, his dad had always held a special place for science among his business.

“And…” Mom took a step towards him, a soft look in her eyes. “we’d like to make an announcement at the dedication that you will be taking a leadership position in the company.”

“No,” Buck responded immediately.

“No, your—your company,” Mom repeated, a hopeful smile on her face.

“No, I don’t wanna lead anything.” He replied firmly, more honestly than anything else he’s said since he’s returned. Nothing good ever comes out of him trying to be a leader. “Besides, Bobby is doing a very good job here.”

“You said that you wanted to be a different person.” Mom reminded him. “And you are Robert Buckley’s son.”

“I don’t need to be reminded of that,” Buck said stiffly, avoiding meeting his mom’s gaze.

“Well, obviously you do.” She fired back.

Bobby frowned slightly in thought as he walked up to his mom’s side. “Everyone here understands that…” he began carefully. “this transition is really difficult for you.”

“Thank you, Bobby.” Buck nodded at him. But he wasn’t sure that they did. And if his plans were going to work, he needed them to _fundamentally_ understand this. He wasn’t someone different. He was still Buck the playboy, to them. He couldn’t afford to be seen as anything else right now. “Which part, though? Everyone fantasizing that I got my MBA while I was on the island? Or the fact that my father’s CFO now sleeps down the hall from me?”

The silence in the room seems deafening as his rising voice cut off. Bobby stared at him with an unreadable expression while his mom just shook her head in disappointment. She turned and started walking away, but stopped halfway to the door and turned on her heel to frown at him. “You know, five years ago, your irresponsibility was somewhat charming. It is a lot less so now.”

Buck bowed his head as she left, unable to meet her eyes as he listened to both her and Bobby leave the room. He could feel Eddie’s eyes burning a hole into his head but he ignored it, choosing to turn instead to look out the floor to ceiling windows in the office. He wished he could fulfill his mother’s dreams—but it was impossible to do that and fulfill the promise he made to his father.

He had a mission. One he had to fulfill, despite the personal cost to himself.

xxx

“There he is!”

Buck’s lips pressed into a thin line as he left the building, keeping his head down as much as he could to avoid the microphones and cameras being shoved in his face once more. He would be grateful once the media had calmed down and he wasn’t the front of every newspaper anymore—he was tired of his anxiety skyrocketing every time he left a building that wasn’t his home and he wasn’t fond of the panic attacks that threatened to follow.

Eddie did his best to keep the brunt of them from touching him, but Buck couldn’t help but grit his teeth to hold in every flinch he wanted to give when he felt someone brush up against them. He slid into the car quickly when they reached it, Eddie sliding in next to him and closing the door quickly. “The driver will be here in a minute.”

Guess his bodyguard was more invested in staying by his side than he thought. “Okay,” he answered quietly.

“You know, I spent the first twenty-three years of my life in Starling City, and the next five in Afghanistan,” Eddie spoke up, his voice a welcome distraction from the screaming and flashing of cameras outside their car. “You wanna know what I learned?”

“There’s no place like home?” Buck asked, glancing at him briefly before looking away again.

“No, just the opposite,” Eddie said after a moment. “Home is a battlefield. Back home, they’re all trying to get you. Get you to open up, be somebody you’re not sure you are anymore.” Buck could see Eddie looking at him from the corner of his eye. “Or I could be wrong.” the other man continued after a second. “Maybe after five years alone you’re not as messed up in the head as you have every right to be.”

** _“Dad, no!”_ **

** _“Survive.”_ **

** _BANG._ **

If only Eddie knew how messed up in the head Buck was. Then he might not be so quick to say that.

xxx

“Attorney for shipping magnate, Martin Somers, has confirmed his client has no intention of testifying, maintaining his innocence in the wrongful death of Victor Nocenti.”

Buck narrowed his eyes as he angrily turned away from the television and grabbed his gray button-down from the back of his chair. Of course, Somers wasn’t going to testify. He should have expected it, he supposed, based on the background of the guy—he was working with the Chinese Mob, after all. It looked like he was going to have to pay Somers another visit… one he wouldn’t be walking away from quite so easily this time.

“Nocenti’s body was found four weeks ago,” the newscaster continued speaking. “We’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available.”

Sighing lightly, Buck shrugged the button down over his shoulders, grimacing at the tightness in his back. He almost wished his timeline hadn’t been moved up so quickly—he would’ve liked a little more time to recover and establish himself before he had to start taking—

“Uh, wait, how did you get those?”

Buck scoffed in annoyance, quickly trying to finish putting on his shirt as May sped into his room towards him. “Don’t you knock?”

“No, wait, Mom said that… there were scars but—” May grabbed his arm and tugged, leaving Buck with no choice but to grit his teeth and slowly turn around, but he refused to make eye contact with her.

Her mouth moved without words coming out, her wide eyes scanning his body at the scars visible on his torso. He knew what she was seeing. The bratva star tattooed onto his left shoulder and the Chinese tattoos down near his left hip. Her fingers hovered over the large scar running from the top to the bottom of his rib cage on his left side.

“I-I’m…” she stuttered, her gaze traveling across his torso before he felt her eyes raise to stare at him. “Buck, what happened to you out there?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Buck said quietly, glancing down at her for a brief moment as he finished buttoning up his shirt before turning away.

May scoffed lightly. “Of course you don’t,” she muttered. “You never wanna talk to me about anything. Except for my social life.”

“Wait!” Buck called out, reluctantly turning around to face his sister as she started to leave. “Where are you going?”

“Why should I tell you?” May asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’m sorry, May,” Buck apologized quietly, taking a couple of steps towards his little sister. “I need to get better… at talking about what happened to me there. But I’m not ready yet. Okay?” he asked, inwardly pleading that she understood. He can never tell her what happened to him on that island—it would destroy her. She had the purest heart of anyone he’s ever known and he refuses to be the reason it gets tainted.

May said nothing for a long moment, staring at him with an almost unreadable expression on her face. “Do you have a second?”

“Yeah,” Buck answered, trying his best to hide his confusion at the sudden request.

“Good,” May said, taking a deep breath. “I wanna show you something out back.” she turned, not waiting for him as she left his room.

Buck turned back and grabbed his jacket before he jogged after her, following her through the large mansion before they ended up outside.

“Sometimes, when I felt… whatever.” she sighed, leading him across the smooth, green grass. “I’d come here.” She brought them to a stop in front of two gravestones and Buck felt an overwhelming sense of grief rise and his breath catch in his throat as he stared at the first gravestone on the right.

** _Robert Buckley_ **

** _1968-2014_ **

** _A leader, a husband, a father, and a pillar._ **

May bent down to wipe some grass and dirt off the base of their father’s gravestone. “About a month after the funerals Mom stopped going out. Pretty soon, she stopped talking altogether.” She sighed sharply as she got back to her feet and glanced at him. “The house got so quiet, so I’d come here.” Taking a few steps to the left, she pointed at the second gravestone. “To talk to you.”

** _Evan Buckley_ **

** _1993-2014_ **

** _A loving son and brother, whose light was dimmed far too soon._ **

Buck looked back up at her, unable to think of anything to say.

“I mean, stupid stuff,” May continued, her voice trembling. “Like what I2 was doing that day, what boy I had a crush on. And then sometimes I’d ask you, _beg_ you, to find your way home to me. Now, here you are.” She paused for a second, tears brimming in her eyes. “And the truth is, I felt closer to you when you were dead.”

That statement hit Buck like a shotgun shot to the heart. He couldn’t look at her anymore, his gaze moving back to his gravestone.

“Look, I know it was hell where you were,” May stated, taking a step closer to him. “But it was hell here too. You gotta let me in, Bucky. You gotta let someone in.” she pleaded, staring at him for a long moment before turning away, her hand reaching up to brush over her cheeks.

Buck turned and stared back at his gravestone, feeling like a giant weight was growing heavier on his shoulders. He knew May was right. He hasn’t talked to anyone about what has happened to him on the island but… how do you talk about something like that? He struggles with it, every single waking and dreaming moment of his life. Sometimes, he thinks it’s his penance to pay.

If he was being honest with himself, there was only one person he wanted to talk to.

Maddie.

He struggled with himself over his decision to go, paced in the back yard across from the graves for what felt like hours. In the end, he decided he missed her far too much than he wanted to keep her safe and let his emotions rule out over his logic.

Which was how he found himself here, nervously knocking on her apartment door at way too late at night.

“Hey. Are you okay?” Buck asked when she opened the door, trying his best to ignore the death glare she was currently giving him and his shaking hands. “There are two cop cars outside.”

“How am I supposed to stay away from you if you won’t stay away from me?” Maddie asked, leaning against the doorframe as she ignored his question.

Buck opened his mouth to say… something, he wasn’t exactly sure, but Maddie beat him to the punch once again. “What are you doing here, Buck?”

“My sister took…” he stuttered slightly, biting down on the inside of his cheek. “She pointed out to me that I have been distant since I got back and that… it would probably be a good idea if I let somebody in.

“So, you thought you’d start with the first person you pushed away?” Maddie guessed.

“I did that to protect you,” Buck said quietly. “And then I saw you yesterday and I realized that I hurt you.” he hesitated for a second before adding, “And I’ve missed you.”

Maddie stared at him for a long moment before heaving a long sigh and reluctantly stepping back out of the doorway to let him inside. “Thank you.” Buck murmured as he walked in, glancing around the place.

“Wow,” he commented as he walked into the living room, glancing back at Maddie over his shoulder. “This place hasn’t changed in five years.” The furniture was the same, where they spent countless hours gossiping about boys and high school drama. The stain from their food fight one evening is still a speck on the ceiling where they hadn't managed to clean it off.

“I haven’t had time to redecorate,” Maddie replied stiffly, her arms crossed over her chest as she brushed past Buck into the living room.

“I’m a jerk,” Buck said suddenly, getting Maddie’s attention. “Before the island, I was a jerk. And now I’m just a— I’m a damaged jerk.”

“What’s in the bag?” Maddie asked, glancing down at the paper bag he was carrying by his side.

Buck pressed his lips together into a thin line and glanced down at the ground. “I thought about many things on the island but there was one thing that I thought about every day.” he hesitantly began opening up the bag. “I actually dreamed about it and I promised myself that if I ever got a chance to do it again… I’d do it with you.” He pulled the ice cream box out of the bag and grinned at the small smile that formed on Maddie’s face. “Eat ice cream.”

Finally, Maddie reluctantly smiled. “I’ll go get the spoons.”

Inwardly, Buck patted himself on the back. Eating ice cream and gossiping together was one of the things the two of them did on a fairly regular basis before… everything happened. He settled on the floor with his back against the couch as Maddie came back, trading her a spoon for one of the containers of ice cream—chocolate, of course. He hoped this was the beginning of repairing the damage he had done to their friendship.

“This is as good as I remember.” Buck hummed sometime later, finally placing the half-eaten container of ice cream on the table in front of him.

Maddie smiled at him from where she sat on the edge of the couch as she took another bite of her ice cream. “Good. I’m glad.”

Buck hesitated, glancing down at his hands for a moment before he said, “My mother wants me to join the company. Yeah.” he agreed at Maddie’s surprised look. “Take my rightful place.”

“I can’t exactly picture you as the master of the universe.” Maddie hummed, a teasing glint in her eyes.

Buck scoffed lightly, turning his head to hide his smile. “You know, after five years… I have plans.” he glanced back up at Maddie more seriously. “I have things that I have to do. I can’t do that if I’m…” he sighed, shaking his head. “I don’t know, attending board meetings and stockholder briefings.”

“Evan…” Maddie said, getting his attention. “You’re an adult. You can say no.”

“Oh, I tried.” Buck corrected her quickly. “Didn’t take.”

“Well, then… don't tell her.” Maddie suggested, bringing her spoon to her mouth as she took another bite. “Show her. Be the person that you want her to see you as.”

_Be the person that you want her to see you as._

This is why he and Maddie always clicked. She gave him the best advice, even when she didn’t realize that was what she was doing. She was right. Buck hasn’t been the person his mom knew, the playboy. He hasn’t acted out as much as he used to, or been to as many parties, or made any terrible decisions. If he wants his family to believe nothing has changed since he got back, then he needs to show them and prove it to them.

They might want castaway survivor Buck as a leader in their company, but they sure don’t want playboy Buck as a leader in their company.

“Trust me,” Maddie continued as she put her bowl down no the coffee table, oblivious to Buck’s inner revelation. “I have plenty of experience with disapproving parents.”

“I have been on the receiving end of your father’s disapproval.” Buck acknowledged, remembering her father’s not so subtle glares and comments of them being friends when they hung out. Turns out he wasn’t a fan of her being friends with a billionaire playboy. Or two. “Although, until recently, Chimney did get the brunt of it.”

“He blames himself more than he blames you,” Maddie said quietly, her face softening slightly as she looked at him. “He thinks that you know, maybe if he and Abby were closer she would have told him about the boat trip. And he could have stopped her from going with you.”

“I am sorry,” Buck said quietly, earnestly. 

“You apologized already,” Maddie replied, picking at a loose thread on her shirt, eyes downcast.

“And it’ll never be enough.”

The silence that followed was heavy, only broken when Buck heard a quiet thud coming from the kitchen.

“Did you hear that?” he asked, immediately becoming alert. There wasn’t anyone else in the apartment except for them, unless Maddie got a cat she didn't tell him about.

“What?” Maddie asked, glancing up and looking confused.

Buck heard the sound of the window creaking and his body tensed. He knew that sound. He helped Chimney sneak in this house all the time, and he remembered where that sound came from. As Maddie glanced curiously towards the kitchen, Buck reached down onto the coffee table and quietly grabbed the butter knife laying there. “There’s someone on the fire escape.”

“W-What?” Maddie asked, alarmed as Buck stood and rounded the coffee table.

“Hey, come on!” Buck reached to grab her hand, pulling her up from the couch. They needed to get out of here. Now. “Come on!”

He raced through the living room towards the front door, stumbling to an abrupt stop when suddenly a body crashed through the front door.

Buck didn’t stop to look, ducking down and leading Maddie away from the door and towards the kitchen as gunfire erupted behind them. Buck grunted slightly when they entered the dining room, stumbling back and wrapping Maddie in his arms another man jumped through the window.

They were forced to duck back into the living room, only to come to an abrupt stop when their path was blocked. An Asian woman stood in front of them, wearing a black stealth suit and extremely long platinum hair and brandishing knives in each hand.

Buck gritted his teeth, putting himself in-between her and Maddie. He wasn’t going to let her die. They would have to kill him before he would let that happen. He flinched slightly when he heard a gun trigger click, but there must not have been any ammo left in the gun. Then, before he could react, one of the men was suddenly being shot through the chest from behind him.

Suddenly, Eddie appeared from the doorway, shooting the second man twice in the chest as the woman ran towards him. She clapped his wrists roughly with her knives, making him drop the weapon and spun around, slicing through the air with her knives. Eddie barely ducked out of the way in time, blocking a kick she had aimed at his chest and striking out at her with his hand to knock one of the knives out of her grasp.

They exchanged kicks and blocks and blows almost faster than Buck could keep track of, even as he hugged Maddie close to his chest, he couldn’t help but stare in amazement at how well Eddie was holding his own against her.

He grimaced, though, when she knocked him off his feet, spinning around and bringing him down to the ground with her as her legs wrapped around his neck. Buck quickly ran towards them, standing on the other side of the room just as she raised her hand, knife glinting dangerously in the light. Before she could thrust it down, Buck flung the butter knife at her with perfect accuracy, knocking the knife out of her hand and leaving her taken off guard for a brief moment.

She stared at him, her dark eyes unreadable before she leaped to her feet and ran out the door, leaving them, and her two dead men, behind in her wake.

Maddie ran to his side, gasping as she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. She wasn’t crying, just shaken, but Buck held her tightly all the same as his own heart raced in his chest.

Eddie stumbled to his feet, grabbing his gun and locking eyes with Buck. “Are you hurt?” he asked urgently.

“No,” Buck said quietly, shaking his head against Maddie’s hair.

“Buck, are you hurt?” Eddie yelled again, a hint of something Buck couldn’t quite name in his voice.

“No!” Buck repeated louder, doing his best to reassure him. “No.”

“This is why it’s a good idea to have a bodyguard!” Eddie snarked, glancing out the door where the women fled before turning back into the apartment, presumably to make sure there isn’t anyone left alive trying to kill them.

No, not them. They came to Maddie’s apartment. They wanted to kill Maddie.

Buck felt anger rise within him, like a boiling rage in his veins.

Somers.

Maddie’s shuddering breath against his chest forced him to push those thoughts from his mind. He leaned down slightly, brushing her hair from her face. “Hey, you okay?” he asked softly.

“Yeah. Yeah.” Maddie’s nodded, a little breathless. Her hands were shaking. “I’m okay.”

“It’s all clear,” Eddie reported as he walked back to them, holstering his gun on his side. He glanced between the two of them before he held up his phone. “I’m calling the police. Just stay right there.”

The police presence came quickly, and soon enough the entire apartment was flooded with police officers and crime scene investigators. Buck and Maddie both stood in the living room, having just finished giving their statement to the officers when they spotted Maddie’s father, Detective Lance, rush through the door.

“Daddy!” Maddie rushed to meet him, enveloping each other in a tight hug

“Oh, thank God! Thank God.” Detective Lance muttered quietly, hugging her tight enough Buck thought she might break. “Are you alright?” he asked, holding her back slightly to study her head to toe.

“I’m alright. I’m alright,” she reassured him, her voice shaking only a little bit. “Those cops that you put on me…”

The detective sighed, his face turning sad and sympathetic. “They—” he shook his head.

“I went outside to ask for a light and they were both dead in the squad car.” Eddie quietly finished for him from where he stood at Buck’s side.

“It’s alright, honey. It’s okay.” Detective Lance comforted her as her entire body froze, her hand going up to her mouth in what Buck could only assume to be shock.

“Mr. Diaz…” The detective stepped around Maddie, nodding his appreciation to Eddie. “Thank you. Feel free to run as many red lights in the city as you want.”

“I was just doing my job, sir,” Eddie replied, always so humble and polite.

Everything Buck wasn’t.

“No, your job is protecting him.” The detective corrected, glancing sideways at Buck. He narrowed his eyes and stepped closer to him. “It seems like whenever you’re with one of my daughters, people die.”

_They do. People die wherever I go._

“You stay away from Maddie,” The detective threatened lowly. “Or I swear the next time you disappear it will be permanent.”

“Dad!” Maddie said, her voice hard and angry.

“No, Maddie I—”

“It’s okay.” Buck interrupted quietly, steadily meeting the glare the detective was giving him. “I understand.”

“Yeah.” He muttered, not sounding like he believed Buck. “Maddie.” he walked back over to her, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. “Come on. This is a crime scene for at least 24 hours. Let’s get you back to my place so you can get some sleep.”

“Mr. Buckley, we should probably go as well,” Eddie spoke up, glancing at Buck. “I wouldn’t want your mother to worry.”

“Yeah.” Buck agreed, squeezing Maddie’s hand as he walked by before he followed Eddie out of the apartment. The drive back was quiet, filled with a heavy silence full of words unspoken that Buck didn’t even know where to start. Instead, when they got to the mansion, Buck got the first aid kit for Eddie to wrap the wound on his hand while he got an ice pack out of the kitchen.

As he walked into the foyer, he tossed it towards Eddie who was sitting on one of the benches and said, “I’d say thank you, but I don’t think that would cover it.”

“Well,” Eddie began as he stood on his feet, pressing the ice pack against his hand, “like I told your cop friend I was just doing my job. Besides, I think it should be you… that I’m thanking.”

Buck felt his breath catch in his throat but he forced himself to act casual and look confused as he turned around to face Eddie. “What for?”

“The knife.” Eddie raised his eyebrow pointedly.

_Shit_. “The knife.” Buck echoed, biting the inside of his cheek. He’d been hoping to avoid this. “I got lucky.” he lied, immediately cursing his panic-driven tongue. Really? Lucky? That was the best he could come up with?

“That was a kitchen knife,” Eddie replied, unconvinced. “It wasn’t even weighted properly yet you threw it with accuracy across a ten-foot room.”

“Exactly.” Buck forced what he hoped was a convincing smile. “I got lucky.”

“I’m not the kind of man you want to take for a fool, Mr. Buckley, you understand me?” Eddie stepped closer, close enough Buck could see that his eyes weren’t completely green, there was a bit of brown and gold dancing in there, with a little more gold color in his right eye when he tilts his head—

“Yes.” Buck blinked, hoping Eddie didn’t notice the slight blush on his cheeks or hear his racing heart.

“And I think I’m just beginning to understand the kind of man you are.” he continued, a small smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth.

Oh, Buck _really_ hoped he did. Because his eyes were gorgeous, and that mouth was bright pink and plump, making Buck wonder what it would feel like to have those lips pressed against his and—

“Shouldn’t take you very long.” He said instead of what he was thinking, taking a couple of small steps back. “I’m shallow. And very tired, so…” he turned and started walking down the hallway, smiling over his shoulder. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, sir.” Buck heard Eddie reply behind him as he turned the corner of the mansion.

Of course, his bed isn’t where he was headed but Eddie didn’t need to know that.

He wanted to give Martin Somers the chance to confess and face a court’s justice. But he chose to go after someone he cares about instead. He’s still going to face justice. It’ll just be a different kind.

xxx

Six men.

Honestly, Buck was expecting more of a challenge to get to Somers. With the Triad involved, they must have decided he wasn’t worth their time in offering protection detail. Well, their mistake.

As quietly as he could, Buck leaped from his perch atop the scaffolding along the pier, landing quietly on the catwalk and sneaking up behind one of the bodyguards. He reached up and wrapped his arm around the man’s neck, grunting quietly as he snapped it in his grip and carefully let the man’s body drop to the ground.

“Wallace?”

Buck glanced down at the radio on the man’s belt with narrowed eyes as it went off. “Wallace, you copy?”

Somers must be on the move. Making his decision, Buck reached down and grabbed the radio from the body and held it up, growling lowly into the mic, “Wallace isn’t here. But I am.”

Knocking an arrow, Buck aimed at the catwalk below him and shot one of the guards through the chest, grimacing as the man's gun went off before he fell to the ground. Instantly, bullets were being shot his way and Buck ducked from the catwalk, leaping off the edge and maneuvering his way to the catwalk below.

He aimed up with his bow and fired an arrow at the catwalk above him as another bodyguard rounded the corner, shooting him straight through the chest before he could get a shot off. Buck grunted as another bodyguard rounded the corner and jumped off the side of the scaffolding, landing square on his feet on the last catwalk below him, still several feet above the ground—and water.

Now on his feet, he turned and knocked an arrow when he saw something move out of the corner of his eye, shooting on of the bodyguards just a couple of feet down the catwalk. Immediately, he began running the opposite way, back towards the main warehouse where he knew Somers was hiding.

He ducked his head instinctively when he saw a man shooting at him from a couple of catwalks above him, carefully aiming his bow before shooting him in the chest with one of his arrows. Knocking another arrow as he ran, Buck slowed down to fire a shot at the last bodyguard ahead of him before he lowered his bow.

Six down. Now he could get to Somers.

Buck quickly ran through across the pier, coming to a halt when he spotted a lone figure ducking into one of the warehouse entrances. “Somers!” he shouted, narrowing his eyes before jumping in after him.

Somers ran into the building with Buck hot on his heels. They entered a strange circular room that extended several feet above Buck’s head and an odd pillar in the center of the room. There were spare piles of boxes strewn across the room and Buck fired an arrow at Somers, the arrow striking one of the boxes he ran next to right in front of his face, bringing him to a dead stop with a scream. “Oh, God! No, no, no.” he pleaded, his back plastered to the stack of boxes as he watched Buck stalk closer with terror in his eyes.

“He can’t help you.” Buck snapped, reaching back and knocking an arrow on his bow as he stalked closer. He fired this bow right above Somers’ shoulder on his other side, effectively trapping him in place. “I want the truth about Victor Nocenti.”

“I can’t.” Somers whimpered. “The Triad will kill me.”

“The Triad’s not your concern right now.” Buck shot back, aiming another arrow at Somers and firing it between his legs.

Somers screamed. “Alright, alright, alright.” He inhaled a shuddering sob. “It wasn’t me that killed him. It was the Triad.”

“Acting on whose instructions?” Buck demanded. When Somers didn’t immediately answer, Buck fired another arrow, this one landing just inches above Somers’ head. “Whose?” he shouted, ignoring Somers’ scream.

“Alright, alright. It was mine! It was mine, alright? Nocenti said he was gonna testify against me.” Somers gasped out. Then, suddenly his eyes shot to something over Buck’s shoulder and Buck immediately turned around, silently cursing himself for his lack of awareness as he saw that platinum-haired woman standing a few feet from him.

“远离他.” The woman stated, her eyes narrowed dangerously.

“让我,” Buck growled back.

The woman lashed out with a yell and Buck leaned back to dodge, leaving her slashing at thin air. He stepped backward, ducking and blocking her attempts to strike at his with his bow. He spun and used the pillar in the middle of the room to jump at and launch off of, grunting in frustration when he struck out at her with his bow and missed.

He quickly ducked low to the ground as she spun around to avoid a kick to the chest, grunting heavily when she managed to land a kick to his back as he tried to stand up, sending him leaning against the pillar.

They continued this dance of kicking and dodging and slashing and missing as police sirens wailed in the distance. Buck could hear a helicopter hovering somewhere over top of them and he grimaced as he blocked her kick with his arm. He couldn’t be discovered if the police showed up in here.

They both managed to land a hit on each other, sending them both stumbling backward. Buck tensed, prepared to run forward and resume his attack when he heard a voice on a speaker from outside. “This is the police, drop your weapons.”

_Shit_.

Buck hated to let this woman of the Triad go, but he had no choice. He had gotten what he had come for, and she wasn’t worth almost getting caught over. He ducked out of one of the back entrances to the warehouse, uncaring as to what direction she went as long as it wasn’t where he was going.

“You are surrounded. Come out with your hands up.”

Buck raced out of the warehouse with his bow tight in his hands. Once out, he tossed his bow up onto the top of a shipping container and jumped on top of it, grabbing his bow as he rolled across the top.

He was so close.

He jumped off the top of the shipping container, but before he had the chance to put one foot in front of the other, he heard a familiar voice shout, “Freeze!”

Buck stumbled to a stop, every muscle in his body tense. He could see Detective Lance out of the corner of his eye from the shadows of his hood, and he was once again grateful for the measures he had taken to ensure his face wouldn’t be seen while he was out.

“You twitch and you’re dead,” he shouted. “Bow down. Hands up.”

God, he hoped the detective forgave him for this.

In one smooth, quick motion, Buck reached down and grabbed the arrow dart stuffed in the pocket of his pant leg and flung it at the detective, knocking the gun out of his hand before it hit the shipping container behind him and momentarily distracting him long enough for Buck to getaway.

The detective would find himself grateful when he discovers the recorded message from Buck’s little interrogation earlier recorded on the device.

Maddie was right. He can’t be the Evan his mother wants him to be and still keep the promise he made to his father. If he was, with all of those responsibilities and people watching his every step, scrutinizing everything he does, he never would have been able to track Somers down and do what he needed to do. No. He has to be the person he needs them to see him as.

What more perfect place to do it than at the groundbreaking ceremony, in front of the public and cameras?

The next morning, Buck watched from the shadows as Bobby walked up to the podium and began speaking. Part of him hated what he was about to do, but, he knew, or at least hoped, his father would understand. There was no other way. He had to get people to take him seriously as this damaged playboy, and they couldn’t see anything else.

Father, forgive him.

“—stand as a monument to the man whose company and vision are his greatest legacies.”

That was his cue.

Doing his best to appear hungover and slightly drunk (which, with all his experience, was a piece of cake to pull off), Buck began stumbling his way towards the stage through the crowd. “Whoa! Whoa.” Buck groaned loudly, squinting his eyes a little bit as he navigated through the crowd. He hummed a little when he passed a woman holding a drink tray, grabbing one of the mimosas off of it and giving her a wink as he passed by.

He ignored the cameras as he took a sip of the glass before setting it back down on the tray. “What about me? Right?” he asked, voice raised as he started making his way towards the stage. “I’m a legacy. Hey!” He climbed up onto the stage with a large grin on his face. “Thanks for warming ‘em up, Bobby.”

He made himself stumble a bit as he walked up to Bobby. “Whoa. Hey, yes fine, shovel, shovel.” he ignored his mom’s subtle attempts to grab his attention from where she sat on the stage next to his sister and little brother, taking the golden shovel Bobby was holding with a grin and turning to face the crowd. “I got it. Whoa! Wow, wow, whoa.” Buck made a show of pretending the shovel was made of real gold and too heavy for him to handle, grinning as he straightened up and held it in his hands. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” he chuckled, ignoring the pang in his heart at the disappointed look Bobby gave him.

“Some of you may not know me,” Buck spoke into the microphone with a slight slur forced into his voice. “My name is Evan Buckley.” Silence followed his comment, broken only by the soft clicking of photos being taken. “Uh, watch some television, read a newspaper,” he chuckled. “I’m kinda famous right now. Mostly, though, I’m famous because I’m Robert Buckley’s s-son. Uh, but as Bobby who’s—my new dad— Huh? Who is… Sorry, as Bobby was saying,” Buck continued, “uh, I’m not, much of a legacy, per se. And, uh—”

“Evan, you don’t—” Bobby tried to discretely murmur in his ear, but Buck hushed him dramatically and said in a stage whisper, “No, sit. Sit! Gosh.” he grinned as Bobby reluctantly sat in the seat next to his mother and Buck turned his attention back to the crowd.

He needed to pull this off. He was drunk. He was a playboy. He never took any responsibility for himself or his actions. He had to play this off well.

“See, I was supposed to come here today and I’m supposed to take my rightful place at the company,” Buck said, his smile fading slightly as he stared out over the crowd. “Prodigal son returns home and becomes the—the heir apparent.” he gestured wildly at the last word before grasping onto the stand in front of him, pretending as he needs it to keep from falling. “But I’m not my father. I’m not the man he was.” 

He turned towards his family, biting the inside of his cheek when his mother immediately looked away. “I’m not half the man he was. I never will be.” Buck let a moment of silence carry the heaviness of his words before he continued. “So, please, stop asking me to be.”

Turning around, Buck shoved the golden shovel into the symbolic mound of dirt on the stage before he turned away. He kept his eyes downcast, brushing past his mother, sister, and the rest of his family as he walked down the stairs, unable to meet their eyes. He pretended to stumble on the last step, catching himself on the shoulder of one of the men at the bottom before regaining his balance and walking off, leaving nothing but silence and disappointment in his wake.

Father, forgive him.

xxx

<strike> **_Martin Somers_.** </strike>

Another name crossed off his father’s list.

Why didn’t it bring him the same satisfaction the last one brought him?

Taking slow steps forward, he found himself kneeling in front of his father’s gravestone in the backyard of their mansion. He couldn’t hold back the quiet sob that built up in his chest at the overwhelming feeling of grief he felt as he gazed at his father’s name.

“All that time on the island, plotting my return I didn’t…” he trailed off, bowing his head as tears dripped down his cheeks. “I didn’t realize how hard it would be to… reconnect with—” his voice broke slightly. “Mom, May, Harry… Maddie. Okay? I didn’t—”

Buck’s voice caught in his throat as he cried, burying his face in his shaking hands. “I didn’t know how painful it would be to keep my secrets.” he swallowed heavily, looking back up at his father’s grave with tears in his eyes. “You asked me to save this city. To right your wrongs. I will. I swear.” he promised, brushing his hand over his cheeks as he hesitated before continuing, his voice hitching slightly. “But to do that… I can’t be the Evan that everyone wants me to be which means that sometimes— sometimes, to honor your wishes, I need to dishonor your memory.”

“I’m sorry.” he finished quietly, brushing the tears off his face as he stood onto his feet. “Forgive me, Father.” He took a deep breath before he turned around, eyes downcast to the ground as he addressed the two groundsmen waiting respectfully just out of earshot. “Take it down,” he said, pointing at his gravestone.

He was alive. And he was planning on keeping it like that until he fulfilled his promise to his father.

Buck walked towards where Eddie was waiting with the car, pausing as his bodyguard opened the door for him with sympathy in his eyes. “Will you be going out tonight, sir?”

“Definitely,” Buck replied as he slid into the car.

He needed a drink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally getting chapter two up! I'm really excited about this one, but I'm even more excited for the third chapter. Thank you to everyone sticking with the story, and to anyone out there just discovering this, hope you've enjoyed it so far!
> 
> Kudos warm my heart and I would love to hear your thoughts on the chapter and the direction of the story! Hope everyone had a happy holiday, and happy new year!!!!


	3. shotgun shot to the heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! I'm so excited for you guys to finally read this chapter because I had an absolute blast writing it. Starting with the next couple of chapters the story will slowly being veering from the show and I've got some great Buddie moments planned.
> 
> Shout out to Em for betaing this for me and encouraging me to continue writing! Kudos warm my heart and comments make my day, I would love to hear what you guys think and what you'd like to see in future chapters!

To Buck’s family, he is the brother and son who just returned home after being lost at sea five years ago. They don’t know he came back with a mission to bring justice to their city… and they never can. The men and women he’s targeted are dangerous, corrupt. A virulent cancer. 

Cancers like James Holder, who's corporation put defective smoke detectors in low-income housing in The Glades. There have been many fires and too many funerals. 

But cancers can be fought and conquered. All it takes is a surgeon… and the right instrument. 

Buck watched from the shadows through narrowed eyes as James Holder walked out onto his pool top balcony. He held a beer bottle in one hand and his phone in the other as he chuckled at something someone on the other end said. “Other than the bill I got handed this morning by my legal team, I’m feeling pretty good. Plus, now that this lawsuit’s been settled we could focus our attention on Unidac Industries.” He chuckled again, coming to a stop as he stared out at his pool. “Okay. I’ll see you in the office first thing.”

Now was his chance.

As soon as he tossed the phone onto the line of cushioned seats against the edge of the balcony, Buck shot an arrow at his beer bottle, shattering it to pieces and startling Holder.

“i have armed security inside.” Holder said, voice shaking when he looked up and saw Buck move towards him from the shadows. “All I have to do is call out.”

“Go ahead.” Buck tossed one of the armed guard's guns on the ground. “They can’t hear you.”

Fear crossed over Holder’s face. “What the hell do you want?”

“How many people died in those fires?” Buck asked instead, ignoring his question. When Holder didn’t immediately answer, he snapped, “How many? The courts say you don’t owe your victims anything.” he continued, voice low and barely concealing his disgust for the man in front of him. “I disagree. James Holder… you—”

A gunshot rudely interrupted him, hitting Holder with scary accuracy in the heart. Buck immediately spun around, firing an arrow in the direction the gunshot came from. Before he could dive for cover, another gunshot rang out and pain flared in his right arm when the bullet struck him. Buck gritted his teeth to hold back his scream as he hid behind a metal planter, keeping his head ducked down low as three more gunshots rang out around him.

He glanced over his shoulder, frowning as he watched Holder’s body slowly sink to the bottom of the pool and turn the water a murky red from his blood. It was disappointing, certainly, but Buck found himself more concerned with who this gunman could be then the fact that Holder was now dead.

Despite the pain in his shoulder and the police sirens growing louder, Buck waited several long moments before he dared to venture from his hiding spot. He managed to get away, back to his base in the abandoned factory, where he began the painful process of digging the bullet out of his bicep.

He grimaced as he worked the bullet out of the muscle, panting slightly and let his eyes close for a brief moment when he finally got it out and let it drop into the metal pan on the desk. The pain was awful, throbbing up his shoulder, he knew it would only have been worse if he hadn't gotten it out.

Right about now is when he longs for someone to lean on.

He hated this part.

Stitching up the wound was necessary, and as proficient as he has become in doing it over the years, it never seems to get any easier. The sting of the needle sliding through his skin was excruciating and he was more than a little relieved to quickly tie the stitching off and wrap it tightly in clean, white bandages after he wiped away the blood.

Throwing on a white t-shirt, Buck glanced briefly at the clock for the time. Around one in the morning. He quickly downed three Advil as he opened his father’s book to study the names inside.

It’s no surprise a man as corrupt as James Holder has more than one enemy. 

_ James Holder. _

Buck leaned back in his chair, grimacing slightly as his shoulder ached and the world spun a little bit at the movement. This… was more awful than he remembered. He tried to get to his feet, only to stumble slightly as his vision grew even more blurry and out of focus. He let out a hiss of pain, hand instinctively reaching up to hover over the wound in his shoulder—something wasn’t right.

The bullet.

He was poisoned.

His hands fumbled with the metal dish on the counter, desperately trying to find the bullet amongst the pliers and blood-soaked bandages. Buck was running out of time. 

He grabbed a bottle of water off the desk as he slid across the floor to his knees, fumbling hands quickly opening up the lock to the wooden case he had brought with him from the island. He brought herbs from the island, one that would counteract the effects of the poison— fuck, where were they?

There!

Buck grabbed a pinch of the herbs in his fingers, the world dangerously tilting around his as he stuffed them in his mouth and downed them with a drink of water. He groaned as he slumped on his side, the world growing dark around him—he hoped he had been fast enough.

xxx

When he finally woke with a gasp, the first thing he noticed was  _ awful _ he felt. He groaned as he sat up, his hand reaching up to gently press against the bullet wound in his bicep. He hissed through his teeth as he gently peeled back the bandage, but was relieved to see the stitches hadn’t opened and it didn’t seem to be bleeding, but—

The poison.

Shit, he passed out—Buck cursed out loud when he saw the time on his computer. 7:10 am. “Damnit.” He hadn’t meant to spend all night here. His mother was going to  _ kill _ him when he got back home.

With a soft groan, Buck pushed himself to his feet, only stumbling a little as he regained his balance. He grabbed his coat off the chair and quickly headed out of the abandoned factory to his home, praying his mother wouldn’t be too angry—or Eddie, for that matter, guiltily remembering how he had ditched the other man at dinner last night. 

When he walked in the door, however, an angry bodyguard and mother was not what he was met with. Instead, he followed the loud voices that were coming from the living area, absently rolling out his shoulder with a small grimace as he walked in. 

Eddie was standing at the doorway, hands clasped in front of him as he watched everyone inside the room. May was sitting on the couch looking—well, terrible if he was going to be honest. Her hair was a mess and the bags under her eyes hinted at a long night awake plus maybe something else extra. His mother and Bobby were off to the side, speaking with two officers.

Eddie turned to face him when he walked in, an annoyed look crossing over his face but it was gone as quickly as it appeared.

“What happened?” Buck asked him quietly, his eyes flickering from Eddie over to May. “May okay?”

“The cops brought her home, she and some of her friends broke into a store, tried on some dresses last night,” Eddie explained. “Lit up a breathalyzer like a Christmas tree.”

_ Oh, May… _ Buck thought, his heart squeezing as he gazed at his tired-looking sister.  _ What have you gotten yourself into? _

“So,” Eddie continued, the look in his eyes sharpening. “How was your evening, sir?”

“You mean after I said I had to go to the bathroom at dinner and never came back?” Buck asked, a bit sheepishly, turning his gaze back to Eddie.

“I guess from now on I’ll be watching you pee.”

Buck stared at him, biting the inside of his cheek to hold back a smirk. He definitely wouldn't be opposed to Eddie joining him in the bathroom, but, honestly, he would rather be doing something different with his—

He pushed the thoughts from his mind as he brushed past Eddie towards his parents. Now wasn’t the time, he reminded himself sternly.

“Thank you, officers,” Bobby was saying as Buck walked up. “My wife and I appreciate it. I’ll see you out.”

As the officers were led out of the house by Bobby, his mother sighed, and turned to where May was sitting on the couch, disappointment lacing her words. “Last time it was public intoxication. This time breaking and entering. My, how we are moving up in the criminal world.”

May gave a sigh of her own as she stood on her feet, still appearing slightly tipsy as she spoke, “You know, when you pay off the store owner, you should check out the merchandise. They got some pretty killer outfits.”

“May, go get ready for school.” Mom said in reply, sounding more disappointed than Buck remembers hearing in her in a long time.

“Uh, you know, I was thinking of taking a sick day,” May answered, crossing her arms over her chest as she yawned.

“Fine,” Mom sighed, sounding done with the conversation already. “Then get some sleep.”

May turned away, a triumphant, if not slightly tired, grin spreading across her face as she sauntered out of the room. “You look like crap,” she eloquently advised him as she walked past.

God, what happened to his family while he was away?

“You’re letting her play hooky?” Buck accused, turning back around to look at his mother with a frown. 

“When your sister gets like this it’s best to give her, her space.” Mom explained, looking almost as tired as May did.

“She’s testing you.” Buck ground out through clenched teeth. 

“Yes.” Mom acknowledged, giving him a pointed look of her own. “Who’d she learn that from?”

“Mom.” Buck sighed, pausing for a moment to consider his words before continuing, “When I was her age, you and dad let me get away with murder. Now, I’ll always be grateful for you guys adopting me and saving me like you did but—” his voice hardened. “Looking back, I could have used less space and more parenting.”

He spun around, leaving her to think of those words and calm himself down. He knew it wasn’t his mother’s fault—not completely. He was to blame as well. If he had been a better person, a better role model before he left—hell, if he hadn't left at all. If he had just stayed off that damned boat, then he could’ve been here to watch May and Harry grow up and keep them from making the same choices he did.

Later that day, Buck finally got the chance to get back to his base and test the poison on the bullet. While forensics wasn’t exactly his forte, testing for basic poisons wasn’t too difficult.

He leaned back in his chair as he watched the blood slowly turn blue on the bandage in front of him, furrowing his brow in thought at the result that gave him. The bullets were laced with curare. A rare and deadly poison. The killer’s unique MO. He’s killed all over the world. Chicago, Markovia, Corto Maltese. Interpol even has a codename for him. Deadshot.

He was prepared to give James Holder a chance to right his wrongs, but this Deadshot has no morality, no honor, no code. He doesn’t kill for justice, which makes him as dangerous as anyone on Buck’s list. In fact… it puts him right at the top.

xxx

“So what do you think?” Buck asked as he heaved the large metal door open, rolling it to the side and letting the sunlight come streaming in. Eddie and Chimney both trailed behind him as he led them inside, spreading his arms out dramatically. “Great spot for a nightclub or what?”

“Sweet,” Chimney commented, neck craned up at an angle to look around the abandoned factory. “Though, I gotta tell you man, if you’re thinkin’ about calling it Queens I don’t think you’re gonna get the clientele that you were hoping for.”

“Private office,” Buck said in lieu of an answer, pointing at the second floor towards the back of the factory.

“For the private one-on-one meetings, I would imagine.” Chimney teased, shooting his friend a grin.

“Hopefully the occasional two-on-one meeting,” Buck answered easily, his grin growing at Chimney’s laugh.

“Man, are you sure you wanna do this?” Chimney asked, grin fading slightly as he got serious. “It’s not like you really have any experience in running a… Well, running anything. How about,” he continued, “tomorrow night the two of us we go and scope out the competition. There’s a new club opening downtown. It’s called Poison. Max Fuller owns it.”

“Max Fuller?” Buck repeated.

“Yup.” Chimney nodded, popping the ‘p’ on his tongue a bit.

Buck bit the inside of his cheek to try and fight back the grin growing on his face. “I slept with his fiancé.”

“Yeah, before the wedding,” Chimney said dismissively.

“It was at the rehearsal dinner.” Buck chuckled at the memory.

“The rehearsal dinner is technically before the wedding.” Chimney shrugged, unable to fight back a laugh. “Right? Besides, who stays mad at a castaway?” He glanced down at his phone when it rang in his pocket and frowned a little. “Ah, damn it, I gotta roll. Anyway, I’ll see you later, man. Good place.” He patted Buck on the shoulder as he walked by, nodding to Eddie behind him as he left. “See you.”

“So, what do you think?” Buck asked when Chimney was gone, slowly turning around to face Eddie curiously. 

“Well, I’m here to provide security, sir, not a commentary,” Eddie answered professionally, but his eyes flickering around the place gave him away. Buck knew he had an opinion, and he wanted to hear it.

“Oh, come on, Eds, do me a favor. Speak freely, please.” Buck said with a grin, trying to hide the anxiety building in his chest. Did he not like it? Did he think it was a stupid idea? Did he think Buck was an idiot for even trying to do something like this? Did he think Buck couldn’t pull it off?

Eddie stared at him before nodding slightly, returning to glancing around the factory. “Well, this is The Glades, right? Your rich white friends wouldn’t come to this neighborhood on a bet.”

“I am Evan Buckley, right?” Buck smirked, waiting for Eddie’s reluctant acknowledgment before he continued. “People would stand in line for three hours if I opened up a club.”

“And no one who actually lives in The Glades would see a penny of those cover charges.” Eddie finished.

“We make it a successful business, we gentrify the neighborhood.” Buck corrected. 

Eddie sighed when he said that, reaching back and putting his hands in his back pockets. “I was wondering when we would get to that. The white knight swooping in to save the disenfranchised. And all by his lonesome with no help from anybody."

“Wow.” Buck scoffed lightly, trying to play off his words and not show how much they stung. “You don’t think very much of me, do you?” he asked quietly, almost afraid of the answer. Maybe it was from years of solitude, maybe it was the familiarity he felt when he was around Eddie, but for some reason, he was desperate to have him like him.

“No, actually, sir, I have a very high regard for how perceptive you are.” Eddie stared at him, fighting back a smile. “Sir.” With a respectful nod, Eddie turned and walked out of the factory, presumably to wait until Buck was finished so they could leave.

Letting out a long sigh, Buck turned around and stared around the factory. The nightclub here would conceal his base underneath and provide an alibi for where Evan Buckley spends his nights. He just hoped it would be enough, and maybe help prove himself in Eddie’s eyes a little bit more.

He missed having friends.

Which is why he feels more than a little guilty for ditching Eddie again. He wished he didn’t have to, but he still needed to investigate the shooter from last night, and he couldn’t do that with his bodyguard on his tail. He had to go find one of the bullets that the shooter had shot the other night. Thankfully, it didn't take him too long to locate one of the bullets wedged into the side of one of the buildings in an alleyway. 

Back in his base later that evening, he was able to identify the type of bullet. 7.62-millimeter rounds. The money trail seemed to lead back to the Bratva, the Russian mob. Finally… some good luck. 

xxx

Walking down the street with a black baseball cap on to help conceal his identity, Buck found himself relaxed despite the situation he was about to go into. The Russian mob was definitely not to be messed with, but it was one of the more familiar things he would be getting to do since he arrived back from the island.

Slipping the cap off his head and shoving it into his back pocket, Buck opened the back door to a Russian bike shop and walked inside. “ _ I’m looking for Alexi Leonov. _ ” he announced in Russian as he walked in, coming to a stop in front of two men who paused from their work on a motorcycle. 

“ _ There’s no one here by that name _ .” replied one of the men, staring at him with wariness and suspicion in his eyes. He was heavyset and bald, a walking Russian stereotype if he was being completely honest.

“ _ Not in your garage _ .” Buck acknowledged, taking another step forward. “ _ In the basement underneath _ .”

Immediately, the second man stepped forward, pulling a gun out of his pocket and started to point it at Buck. Barely breaking a sweat, Buck reached forward and grabbed the man's hand, twisting it and making him shout out in pain and drop to his knees. With a slight curl to his lips, Buck yanked the gun from the man’s grip and quickly unloaded the mag from the gun and threw both pieces to the ground behind him.

“ _ I’m Bratva _ ,” he stated, pulling down the collar of his shirt enough to show off the Bratva tattoo on his left pec. “ _ I want to see Alexi Leonov. _ ” he continued, eyeing the second man as he staggered to his feet and backed away from him.

The balding man took a couple steps forward, his face hard and unreadable before he stopped in front of Buck and gave a small bow. “Pleased to meet you,” he said in English.

Buck inclined his head in return and then followed the man as he led him through a back door inside the shop down a set of metal stairs to the basement.

“I apologize,” the Russian man began as he led Buck down. “We meant no disrespect… to a captain. Particularly an American one. So,” The man came to a stop in front of one of several tables in the large basement. “How can I be of assistance?”

“I’m in the market for a hired gun,” Buck told him, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched the man, who must be Alexi Leonov, pour two drinks for them. “Someone the organization’s used before. His calling card is a 7.62 millimeter round laced with curare. 

Leonov shook his head. “I know no man who uses such tools.”

“But you can find out who does.”

Leonov inclined his head as he picked up the two shot glasses and offered one to Buck. “First, we will drink to each other’s health, then I will look into the identity of this man you seek.”

Buck took the offered glass, raising it respectfully towards Leonov before they both downed it at the same time. He wished he could relish the burn as it went down his throat—God, he’s missed Russian vodka.

“I will also confirm that you are really Bratva captain.” Leonov continued, his eyes narrowing. “Should this not be the case, I will send my mechanic here to find you and kill you and your family.”

Ah, the Russians. How he’s missed their sunny demeanor. 

Regardless, Buck acknowledged the threat for what it was with a respectful incline of his head towards the other man before setting his empty glass down on the table. No further words were exchanged as Leonov and his mechanic escorted Buck out of the building.

xxx

“Oh, my,” Chimney laughs, his shoulders brushing against Buck’s as they walk up to the club with Eddie trailing behind them. “This is gonna be killer.”

“If Max Fuller sees me here, I agree,” Buck answered, sending Chimney a pointed look that his friend easily ignored.

“Ah, if you wanna run a business, you’ve gotta take a few risks!” He proclaimed, leading Buck past the bouncers into the club.

The bass in the club was so loud Buck could swear he felt it rattling his teeth. Shiny, bright blue lights flickered and illuminated the shadowy club and more than once he had to remind himself nothing dangerous was going to happen here—but he couldn’t force himself to relax completely either way. They maneuvered their way through the thick crowd of dancing people over towards the bar, intent on getting a drink to make the rest of the night a little easier to bear when they spotted Maddie of all people had beaten them to it.

“Oh, wow!” Chimney gave a low whistle as he walked up to her, a teasing glint in his eyes. “Doesn’t you going out and having fun violate some kinda law, you know, like the ones that are carved on a stone tablet?”

“That’s cute, Chimney.” Maddie rolled her eyes, lifting her drink up to take a sip.

“Thanks.” 

“I can see you two are up to your old hunting patterns.” She remarked, setting her glass back down and eyeing the two of them critically. 

“Just seeing what passes for fun in Starling City after five years,” Buck answered easily.

“Ah,” Maddie hummed, looking less than impressed. “Well, I’m sure you’ll find that it just hasn’t been the same without you.”

Buck didn’t need Chimney’s worried glance to identify the biting sarcasm in her words, but luckily, May rushing up to his side saved him from trying to find a reply to that. “Big brother!” she exclaimed happily, a large, tipsy smile on her face as she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

“Oh, I am, so wasted right now.” she sighed against his collarbone, tilting her head up to smile at him. “There is… there are two of you.”

Wrapping his arms around her shoulders to keep her steady, Buck stared down at her, confused and concerned. “I—I thought you were grounded?”

“I am!” May pulled back slightly, grasping her brother’s forearms tightly to keep her balance. “And thank you, thank you for that, by the way.”

Out of the corner of his eyes, Buck saw Chimney grimace slightly before he turned around in time with Maddie to distract themselves with their drinks at the bar. What the hell was going on? Did Chimney and Maddie know about May’s behavior since he had been gone? Had they just watched her hit rock bottom and done nothing to offer her help?

“You’re done for the night,” Buck said quietly, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Unfortunately, drunk May didn’t seem to understand that. “Oh, what are you going to do?” she mocked. “Tell mom?”

“May!” Buck snapped, pressing his lips together tightly when she flinched and forcing himself to take a deep breath. “You’re hanging with the wrong people.”

“You’re one to talk.” May’s eyes widened incredulously, an indignant laugh rising out of her. “Uh, how much do you know about your own so-called friends over here?”

“Oh, May,” Chimney interrupted her, turning around and glancing nervously between her and Buck. “Maybe you should—”

“Chimney,” May said with a smile, but there was nothing kind in her eyes. “I think your BFF has a right to know.”

This had gone on long enough. “May, let’s go.” he sighed, gently grabbing hold of her arm.

“Well, I guess they never told you that they’ve been screwing while you were gone,” May growled through gritted teeth, leaning up so her nose almost brushed against Buck’s. For a long moment, only a tense silence filled the small pocket of space they were taking up in the club. He could feel his heart beating in his chest and could hear the blood rushing in his ears but he refused to think about what she had just said right now.

He needed to process it, now was not the time to have an emotional reaction. May needed him more than he needed anything else right now—priorities.

“Look, man, I—” Chimney’s voice cut through the rushing in his ears and Buck cut him off.

“Chim.” He looked away from May, meeting Chimney’s gaze. There was a tortured look in his best friend’s eyes, but he couldn’t focus on that right now. “It’s okay.” he forced out, unable to force a convincing smile but hoping his words would be enough for the time being. He turned back to May, frowning slightly at the smirk on her face. “You and me, we’re done for the night.”

Buck started to pull her away but May wrenched her arm away from him, shoving her hands into him to push him back but barely even making him stumble. “Take your hands off of me!” She scowled at him, her eyes angry. “You’re not my father. And you’re barely my brother.”

She stormed away from him and Buck let his eyes fall closed, unable to stop the rising swarm of self-loathing and guilt from eating away at him once again. May was right. He wasn’t as good of a big brother, as a role model, as he should’ve been before the boat crash. And now that he’s back…

Buck opened his eyes when he felt a hand land on his shoulder. Eddie stood quietly by his side, his eyes giving nothing away and yet offering more support and strength than Buck could ask for.

“Well, well, well…”

_ Fuck _ .

“Look at this! Evan Buckley.” Max Fuller drawled out his name from behind him and Buck could already see that arrogant smirk on his face before he even turned around.

“Max Fuller,” Buck said, forcing an empty smile on his face. “How you been?”

“Happy you drowned,” Fuller answered with a mirror smile of Buck’s. He gestured towards the back of the club, where a drape of curtains separated what appeared to be the back entrance from the rest of the club. “Let’s talk.”

Buck exchanged a look with Eddie before he allowed himself to be lead off, walking through the curtains with Eddie standing protectively at his side. Once through, it was just as he thought. A small section of the club cut off from the rest, with a sign indicating the exit to the back door but otherwise empty. “Hey, Max,” Buck began, turning around to face the other man when suddenly there was a fist flying towards his face. He braced himself for the impact—but it never came.

Eddie held Fuller’s closed fist in his hand, standing slightly in front of Buck with narrowed eyes. “I don’t think you’re going to want to try that again.”

Fuller wrenched his hand back, obviously caught off guard as he scoffed and jerked his head at his bodyguards around him. “Back off, man, this isn’t your problem.”

“Oh, I think you made it my problem when you decided to start throwing punches,” Eddie answered lowly, taking a step forward so his body was angled protectively in front of Buck towards Fuller’s three goons.

“Fine. Whatever, have it your way.” Fuller waved his hand and the fight was on.

One of the goons lunged towards them with a pathetic excuse for a punch that Eddie easily blocked and countered with a sharp jab to his throat and solar plexus, knocking him straight to the ground. While the second one came after Eddie as well, the third bodyguard had his sights set on Buck and managed to get around Eddie while the man was distracted.

Fuck, he couldn’t fight them off. There were too many witnesses.

When the third bodyguard came after Buck, he half-heartedly attempted to dodge his first punch, grimacing when it clipped him across the cheekbone and sent him stumbling back a few steps. He blocked the bodyguard’s second punch with his arm but when he saw the kick aimed towards his chest, he did nothing to block it, allowing himself to be kicked down onto the ground.

Before the guy could get in another hit, however, he was being yanked backward by Eddie and knocked out cold by a fierce jab to the temple.

Jesus,  _ fuck _ , Buck was really,  _ really _ gay.

Eddie was breathing hard as he stared down at the guy on the floor, his jaw clenching and unclenching as he caught his breath. There was barely a sheen of sweat on his forehead and his eyes were dark with anger towards the men who attacked them—fuck, if the situation wasn’t so serious, Buck would be swooning right now.

Eddie turned his dark gaze towards Buck and it took everything in him not to completely melt because—fuck, had he mentioned his bodyguard was really, really sexy? “Are you alright?” he asked, reaching out with his hand to help him to his feet.

“Y-Yeah,” Buck answered, clearing his throat as he took the offered hand and hauled himself onto his feet. The side of his face throbbed and he winced slightly as he brushed his fingers over his left cheekbone. “Hell of a black eye in the morning through.”

“C-Consider both of yourselves banned for life!” Fuller said, obviously shaken as he took in his three bodyguards lying unconscious on the ground. “Get the hell out of my place!” he spat before turning and running back into the main area of the club.

Chimney appeared just as he left, glancing over his shoulder with a small frown but looking slightly amused as he watched Fuller run off. “Well, I was coming back here to help, but…” he trailed off, looking at the unconscious men on the ground with a bemused smile. “It doesn’t seem like you needed it.”

“Eddie’s got a great left hook,” Buck said, rubbing his chest lightly over the area where he had been kicked to try and soothe some of the ache.

Eddie pressed his lips together to hide the beginnings of a smile as he turned and faced Buck, stepping close into his personal space and studying him critically. He raised a hand up to Buck’s face and gently pressed his fingers against his chin, making him tilt his head slightly to the side to get a better look at his eye.

Buck tried to keep his face neutral and not show how fast his heart was beating, but he couldn’t help the slight hitch in his breath when Eddie’s fingers brushed gently over his bruised cheekbone. “We need to get you some ice for that.” he murmured, hazel eyes flicking from the bruise to stare into Buck’s soul.

“Y-Yeah.” Buck breathed out, unable to look away. 

Eddie’s eyes darkened and a small, knowing smirk crossed his face before he took a small step back. Little shit. He knew exactly what he was doing to Buck. “You guys like burgers?”

Two could play at that game.

“Hell yeah!” Chimney answered, curious about the interaction but ultimately more excited about the prospect of burgers than anything else. “Let’s get out of here.”

As Chimney led the way, Buck brushed past his bodyguard, letting his hand trail down Eddie’s arm as he walked by. He didn’t miss the way Eddie’s eyes dilated slightly as his fingers brushed against bare skin and if there was a little extra sway in his steps while he walked away? Well, with someone like Eddie staring at him while he followed, how could you blame him?

xxx

The place they ended up going to for food was some small diner in the Glades called ‘Big Belly Burger.’

“Why don’t you guys, uh, take a seat and I will grab a couple burgers and some ice for Buck’s face,” Eddie said as they walked inside, waving a hand at one of the waitresses in the back who smiled back at him.

“The girl’s pretty cute,” Chimney commented, staring at the same girl Eddie just waved at and lifting his to wave his fingers and grin at her.

“That’s my ex-wife,” Eddie stated, turning to Chimney with narrowed eyes that held a very clear warning.

“Who I will never speak to or look at… ever.” Chimney said quickly, his eyes darting from the girl to Eddie. “Gonna grab a booth,” he mumbled awkwardly and quickly left to go find a seat.

Buck couldn’t help but roll his eyes fondly at Chimney as he peered over Eddie’s shoulder at the woman waitressing. “Your son’s mother?” At the man’s surprised glance he gave a wry smile. “Come on. You can’t think I haven’t noticed the picture of him you keep in your wallet and your jacket pocket.” He clapped Eddie on the shoulder, leaving him to go get the burgers as he walked over to the booth Chimney had gotten for them.

He sat down with a soft grunt, breathing through his mouth through the ache in his chest. He opened his mouth to say something but paused when he noticed Chimney had The Look on his face—the same one he had on when they had The Talk a couple of months before the shipwreck.

“Look, man,” Chimney began, chewing on his bottom lip like he always did when he was nervous. “About Maddie…” He looked up anxiously through his eyelashes. “I was gonna tell you. I-I was just trying to figure out the right way to—”

“Chim.” Buck reached forward, taking Chimney’s hands in his and smiling sadly. “You don’t have anything to apologize for. You’ve been in love with Maddie since the day we met her.” he breathed out through the pain in his heart. “I didn’t expect you to wait for some guy who’s been dead for five years.”

“N-No, Buck, we were together—”

“It’s okay.” he reached up and wiped a tear off of Chim’s cheek. “Chim, it’s alright. You’re still my best friend. I still love you.” he said softly. “But you and Maddie belong together—you always have. And if me being stranded on a deserted island for five years helped you two realize that—then I don't regret it. Not even for a second.”

“I love you too,” Chimney said softly, a warm smile spreading across his face as he blinked back tears. 

Buck’s phone ringing cut through the moment and he had to reluctantly let go of Chimney’s hands to answer it. “Hello?” he asked.

“У нас есть новости.” A voice answered in a rough, gravelly tone.

“Хорошо, подожди минутку,” Buck replied before lowering the phone against his chest and giving Chimney his best, sheepish smile. “It’s a Russian model calling me.”

As Chimney burst into giggles, Buck felt his smile turn genuine as he watched his best friend laugh. “Can we… Can I have a minute, please?”

Chimney chuckled shaking his head as he rose to his feet. “By all means, man. I’m starving though, so don’t take too long or I’ll eat your burger.” he threatened, winking playfully as he walked off to give Buck some space.

Buck felt a little bad about lying to him.

“So I checked out?” he asked when he raised the phone back up to his ear.

“You did.” Leonov acknowledged. “His name is Floyd Lawton. I have address. Where he stayed last time he was in Starling City. But that is all.”

“Let’s hope he’s a creature of habit,” Buck muttered. “Go.”

“1700 Broadway. Papp Motel. Room 52.” Leonov stated. “You will leave us out of this, yes? Assuming Mr. Lawton doesn’t kill you first.”

Buck didn’t answer as he ended the call, stuffing his phone into his inside jacket pocket as he thought. Eddie would be leaving for the night when they returned home, so it would be easy enough to sneak out of the house and hunt this Lawton guy down. He’s wasted too much time, just sitting and waiting to get an answer from the Russians at this point—he needed to take down Lawton before he skipped town or tracked down his next target.

He glanced up with a small smile when Eddie sat down in the booth across from him, setting down a plate with three burgers and some fries. Good, Buck was ravenous. He hadn’t gotten a chance to eat lunch and breakfast seemed like ages ago. Eddie also tossed him a pack of ice, which he caught deftly in one hand before it hit his face. 

“Thanks,” Buck said dryly, gingerly placing the pack of ice onto his cheek. “Chimney will be back in a minute—he went to the bathroom.”

Eddie nodded and frowned slightly as he examined the blossoming bruise on Buck’s cheek. “It doesn’t look too bad. Keep some ice on it and the swelling should go down in about a day or so.”

Buck reached across the table to grab one of the burgers, snagging a couple fries and popping them into his mouth as well. “At least now I’ll have a great story to impress the ladies with,” he said, a grin pulling on his lips but it felt fake even to him.

Eddie hummed noncommittally as he took a bite of his burger, looking at Buck like he was a particularly interesting puzzle he wanted to solve. He was silent for a few minutes before he said, “So, you and Chimney?”

Buck looked down at his burger and smiled a little sadly. “Years ago. I love him,” he said easily, never been one to run away when it comes to his feelings. “But he’s always adored Maddie and I was dead for five years.” He tried to pretend it didn’t bother him, but it seemed like Eddie could see through his facade in a way Chimney couldn’t.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his words sounding genuine as he reached over and placed a comforting hand on Buck’s arm for a brief moment.

Sadness washed over him, longing for a life he could’ve had with Chimney briefly flashing through his mind before he shook it off and forced a smile onto his face. “It’s in the past.” His eyes drifted down back toward his food, suddenly without appetite.

“Look,” Eddie said suddenly, his voice serious enough to cause Buck to look up at him. He looked a little uncomfortable, but there was also determination in his face. “I know you might not—well, you don’t talk about your time on the island but that was a hell of a panic attack you had at the courthouse, and I know it wasn’t the only one.”

Well, fuck. Buck had been hoping all of this would be ignored.

“I just—” Eddie blew out a frustrated breath. “You’re a pain in the ass, sure, but man—if you need someone to talk to, someone who understands PTSD—you can talk to me.”

A sarcastic retort was about to shoot out of Buck’s mouth but it died on his tongue when he realized how serious Eddie was. He was telling him this not as a bodyguard—but as a friend. Something Buck didn’t have a whole lot of, and he’d be the last to admit that he wished he had more. “Okay,” Buck said instead quietly, meeting Eddie’s gaze for a moment before looking away.

Eddie seemed to relax at that and nodded, seemingly content to finish eating now that he had said his piece.

It only made Buck feel a little bit more like a dick than usual when he ditched Eddie later that evening.

xxx

Darkness shrouded the hallway that Buck gingerly stepped through, his footsteps nearly soundless as he slowly made his way towards apartment 52 in the motel. If the Bratva was correct, then the gunman, Floyd Lawton, should be waiting just on the other side of this door. There was no light coming from the other side of the door, but Buck could hear the soft tapping of computer keys.

Deciding to take the element of surprise, Buck took a deep breath before raising his leg and kicking down the door, immediately firing an arrow across the room when he saw someone, a blur, jump across the bed. The man, Lawton, used the bed as cover and Buck ducked back out into the hallway, waiting patiently as several rounds of bullets fired at him.

The firing came to a stop as Lawton reloaded his weapon and Buck took the opportunity to step back into the room. He managed to fire off two arrows—one barely missing Lawton’s shoulder and the other getting stuck in the mattress the gunman raised to use for cover.

Buck quickly ducked back into the hallway when Lawton started firing again, cursing under his breath. The gunshots came to a sudden stop at the same time he heard a loud ‘crash’ and someone grunting. He turned back into the room and immediately spotted the broken window, racing over to it and cursing under his breath.

He was gone.

Police sirens howled in the distance, no doubt called to his location due to the gunfire. He scanned the area outside the window one last time before running back through the room, pausing long enough to grab the bullet-riddled computer off the desk before he ducked out of the apartment.

xxx

Buck would readily admit that he is not the one who would typically be found pursuing through the IT department of Queens Consolidated. However, he really needed to know what was on this computer to help him track down Lawton and he was no expert in computers. However, one Bethany Flynn was.

He walked up to her desk and the first thing he noticed was her blond hair and the pink pen she was absently chewing between her lips. “Ahem.” Buck cleared his throat, smiling a little when Bethany turned in her chair to look at him. “Bethany Flynn? Hi. I’m Evan Buckley.”

“Of course,” Bethany said, brown eyes still a little wider than normal. “I know, who you are, you’re Mr. Buckley.” she trailed off in a nervous chuckle.

“No.” Buck corrected her quickly. “Mr. Buckley was my father.”

“Right, but he’s dead. I mean, he drowned.” Bethany fumbled over her words, speaking almost faster than Buck could keep up with her. “But you didn’t, w-which means you could come down to the IT department and listen to me babble.” She tapped her pen nervously on the desk, taking a breath and averting her eyes away from Buck for a brief moment. “Which will end. In three… two, one.”

Buck bit back a smile and lifted up Lawton’s laptop that he’d been holding. “I’m having some trouble with my computer and they told me that you were the person to come and see.” He placed it down on Bethany’s desk, folding his arms across his chest as the lie slid off his tongue. “I was at my coffee shop surfing the web and I spilt a latte on it.”

“Really?” Bethany asked dubiously, looking up from the computer and raising an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah.”

“Cause, these look like bullet holes.” She pointed out, her fingers gingerly tracing the indents of the holes on the top of the computer.

“My coffee shop is in a bad neighborhood.” Buck cleared his throat, giving her a tight smile.

Bethany remained looking unconvinced, so Buck just gave her his most charming smile and gently placed his hand over hers. “If there is anything that you can salvage from it… I would really appreciate it.” he murmured.

After a moment of staring at their hands, Bethany inhaled sharply and nodded as she looked up at him, a light blush on her cheeks. “Of course.”

“Thank you.” Buck smiled at her again, gesturing at one of the empty chairs near her cubicle. “Do you mind if I…?”

“No, good ahead,” Bethany answered quickly before she went quiet as her focus and attention went to the computer in her hands. She seemed to get lost in it, as Buck sat by her side and watched her, and it was fascinating in a way that reminded him of the way Maddie would get lost in her studies when she had been preparing for law school.

It was several minutes before anything showed up on her computer, but when something did it had Buck frowning a little in confusion.

“It looks like blueprints,” Bethany observed, squinting through her glasses at the computer.

“Do you know what of?” Buck asked head tilted slightly as he studied the plans spread out before him. It looked to be an older building, perhaps one of the office buildings in town?

Bethany turned to glance at him with an incredulous look on her face. “The exchange building.”

“Never heard of it.” Buck shrugged, pursing his lips together.

“It’s where the Unidac Industry’s auction is scheduled to take place,” Bethany told him, the tone of her voice making it seem like that should be obvious to him. At his blank face, she narrowed her eyes slightly. “I thought you said this was your laptop?”

“Yes.” Buck nodded, lying straight through his teeth. He felt a bit bad, but honestly, the less she knew, the less danger she would be in.

“Look.” Bethany sighed, glancing between Buck and the damaged computer sitting in front of her. “I don't wanna get in the middle of some Shakespearian family drama thing.”

Now, Buck was genuinely confused. “What?”

“Mr. Nash marrying your mom.” she stated, again like it should be obvious to him, “Claudius, Gertrude… Hamlet?”

“I didn’t study Shakespeare at any of the four schools that I dropped out of,” Buck told her, fighting back a grin at the embarrassed look on her face.

“Mr. Nash is trying to buy Unidac Industries,” she explained to him, and Buck really appreciated the effort. “And you’ve got a company laptop associated with one of the guys he’s competing against.”

“Floyd Lawton.” Buck nodded.

“No.” Bethany frowned in confusion, pointing toward the screen on the computer. “William Patel. Who’s Floyd Lawton?”

Buck sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “He is an employee of Mr. Patel, evidently.”

The exchange building is surrounded by three towers with eye lines into the building. Lawton could get a kill shot off from virtually anywhere. The more Buck studied the blueprints, the more dread he felt build in the pit of his stomach. But he can’t cover the area. He can’t protect all of Deadshot’s targets. He can’t do this alone.

xxx

As it turned out, the opportunity to bring the Detective in to help him protect Deadshot’s targets also was turning into an opportunity for something else—something even more important. Buck waited, crouched behind a car in the police station’s parking lot, shrouded in shadows and the darkness of the night. He could hear Detective Lance making his goodbyes as he left the station, his footsteps clacking quietly against the pavement as he walked closer.

As soon as the detective passed the car Buck was hiding behind, he was on him in a flash. He slammed him up against the hood of a car, only feeling a little sorry when he grunted as his head hit the car. “Ah, you son of a bitch!” The detective cursed, struggling against his hold.

Buck felt touched that the detective could recognize it was him.

“Detective, quiet!” Buck hissed at him, voice warbled slightly through the masking device he kept to prevent the detective from recognizing him. 

“You’ve got a pair on you, pulling this right outside the police station.” Detective Lance snapped, but he at least did stop struggling against him.

“Floyd Lawton’s the one targeting the buyers interested in Unidac Industries. Interpol calls him Deadshot because he  _ never misses _ .” Buck growled out, emphasizing the words. He might not be Detective Lance’s favorite person but he’s not about to let him go recklessly into this situation. “You can look this up after I go.”

The Detective scoffed. “Yeah, and stop chasing you, I suppose?”

“Warren Patel hired Lawton.” Buck continued, ignoring the barb. “I can’t be sure who they’re targeting it might be all the buyers, and I can’t protect them in a space that big. I need your help.”

“Yeah?” Detective Lance chuckled, something bitter in his voice. “Professional help.”

Buck scowled under the shadow of his hood. “Lawton laces his bullets with curare. Tell your men to wear kevlar.” He slammed the computer down onto the hood of the car next to the detective’s head before he finally let him go, disappearing into the shadows of the night.

He had a party to get to.

xxx

When Buck finally arrived at the auction, dressed for the part in his three-piece suit, he arrived just in time to see a security guard locate Warren Patel in the lobby of the building and take him away quietly.

Good.

He walked quickly through the building, hoping to find Eddie, still feeling more than a little guilty for leaving the other man alone for so long.

“Oh, don’t you scrub up nice?” Detective Lance remarked as they ran into each other near the entrance to the room.

“I’m here to support my family,” Buck replied with a small smile, the line falling from his lips from years of practiced ease.

“Yeah, me too, God help me.” He grumbled, half paying attention to Buck as his gaze scanned the room. He was high on alert—his eyes never lingering in one place for too long. 

“Thank you,” Buck said sincerely. If there was one thing he always had respect for, it was for men like Detective Lance who were around to protect his family.

The Detective met his gaze for a brief moment before scoffing lightly and walking away.

Buck shook his head as he left before his gaze caught sight of the man he had been looking for all night. Eddie Diaz, his ever-vigilant bodyguard. “Eds.” He greeted the man as he walked over to him. “Got your eyes open?”

“That’s what I’m here for, sir,” Eddie answered him, giving him sideways glance as Buck stood by his side. “That and answering patronizing questions.”

Buck sighed in frustration, scanning the room and the windows. “This guy’s out of time, if he’s gonna do something it’s gonna happen before the auction.”

“Sir?” He could feel Eddie’s confused gaze scorching the side of his face.

Fuck, had he spoken out loud again?

He glanced over at Eddie, biting down on his cheek. Fuck, fuck, fuck. His mind spun, trying to find a believable excuse. “I, uh, heard the story on the radio.” he cleared his throat, meeting Eddie’s gaze.

Eddie’s eyes narrowed slightly, but before he had the chance to say anything, he was interrupted. 

“Evan!”

Buck turned his head to see Bobby standing off to the side and he quickly made his escape, a small smile on his face as he walked to the man’s side. “So pleased you were able to attend,” Bobby said, a matching smile on his face.

“Bobby, the police said that some of the Unidac bidders were murdered.” Buck began hesitantly, glancing around the room. “I just think that we should be a little bit more careful. Mom’s already lost one husband.”

“I appreciate the concern, Buck,” Bobby said, placing his hand comfortingly on his shoulder. “But if your mother shared your concerns she definitely wouldn’t have come, and she definitely wouldn’t have brought your sister.”

Buck looked across the room to where Bobby had gestured to and felt his breath catch in his throat at the sight of mom and May standing across the room. They can’t be here. It was too dangerous. He cast a glance at Eddie before quickly making his way across the room to his family’s side, his heart feeling like it was about ready to start beating out of its chest.

“Evan, what a wonderful surprise!” Mom smiled when he approached them.

Buck gestured over their heads for Eddie to come over, ignoring their confused faces as he spoke to his bodyguard. “I need you to get them out of here right now.”

Before he could draw another breath the sound of a gunshot rang through the air, shattering glass and filling the air with terrified screams. Everyone reflexively lowered into a crouch and Buck ushered his mother and sister out of the room, him and Eddie forming a protective barrier between them and the windows.

Once they were safely on the other side of the wall, out of the room, Buck gently placed his hand on sister’s cheek, looking frantically for any sign of wounds. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” May answered breathlessly, her eyes wide with confusion and fear.

“Are you hurt?” Buck yelled over the chaos at his mother, tucked protectively against Eddie’s side.

“No, I’m fine!” Mom snapped, and if Buck weren’t so worried about making sure she was safe, he would have cracked a smile. “Where’s Bobby?”

“Bobby’s fine,” Buck answered as he caught sight of the Detective rushing him out of the room, the two of them crouched down low as they ran to make themselves less of a target.

“Sir, I have to get you out of here,” Eddie said urgently.

“No, them,” Buck ordered as he back away, pointing at his mother and sister. “Them!” He repeated as he backed away, running through the chaos toward the stairwell.

He trusted that Eddie would get his family out safely.

He had a killer to deal with.

Buck sprinted up the stairs as fast as he could, letting out a breath of relief as he got to the third floor in the stairwell. He opened the trashcan and grabbed the duffle he had stored there before the party had begun, opening it up and grabbing his hood out of the bag. He shouldered the duffle on one shoulder and ran up the stairs with the hood still in his hand.

The soft blinking of the security camera tucked away in the corner of the ceiling remained steady.

xxx

Buck crashed through the window of the building feet first, rolling across the floor and ducking his way behind a steel pillar when shots began firing at him. He knocked an arrow in his bow quickly, letting loose two arrows at Deadshot and grimacing when he missed.

The gunshots paused for a moment and Buck took the chance to slide out of sight from behind the pillar, using the shadows to hide him as he watched through narrowed eyes when Deadshot appeared from behind the wall. His steps were silent, careful as the man searched for him, but Buck was patient.

When he had his back turned, Buck lashed out, kicking out with his leg and bringing it down hard on Deadshot’s back. He was knocked to the ground but rolled and made a quick recovery, but Buck was ready for him.

Using the scaffolding around him, Buck grabbed tight onto the bars and lifted his body up, kicking out to the side twice more and landing strong blows on Deadshot’s chest and arm, bringing him down to the ground again. 

Deadshot fired wildly when he regained his footing, but Buck had already climbed to the top of the scaffolding. With Deadshot underneath him, Buck grabbed him by the shoulders and flung him over his head, sending the man flying across the space and landing violently on top of an abandoned table, breaking it in half with his impact.

Buck was a little impressed with how quickly Deadshot recovered and was back on his feet but that feeling quickly went away as they began exchanging blow for blow. Buck got lost in the exchange, the adrenaline rush flowing through his veins exciting him—it’d been a while since he had someone who could almost match him in skill like this.

The two finally separated, Buck ducking behind a pillar as Deadshot fired his gun at him. “Drop your guns!” he called out in warning, body tensed with an arrow knocked in his bow.

“I admire your work,” Deadshot spoke, voice echoing off the concrete around them. “Guess you won’t be extending me any professional courtesy.” 

“We’re not in the same line of work.” Buck snapped back. “Your profession is murder.”

“You’ve taken lives,” Deadshot answered easily. 

“For the good of others.” Buck defended, gritting his teeth at the accusation. “You’re out for yourself.”

He heard Deadshot scoff before he started firing his gun again. Buck rounded the corner quickly while he reloaded, firing his arrow and taking cover behind the pillar when he heard the arrow make its mark. There was a dull thud against the ground and Buck waited for a beat before he slowly rounded the corner.

Deadshot was laying on the floor unmoving with Buck’s arrow through his right eye. Buck let out a deep breath as he stared at the man, a mess of emotions in his heart—regret that he had to kill and yet satisfaction because he did it in order to save his family and others who might have become Deadshot’s next victims.

A loud groan from behind startled him, making him spin around and reach for an arrow from his quiver, pausing when he saw who it was.

Eddie.

He rushed over to where Eddie was hunched over against the concrete wall, a sense of dread filling him as he got closer and realized the man had been shot by one of Deadshot’s bullets. “I got you, I got you.” Buck murmured softly, slinging the man’s arm over his shoulders.

He had to get him out of here.

xxx

The ride to his base was longer than he was comfortable with, but he couldn’t take Eddie to the hospital—they wouldn’t have the antidote he needed. Buck carried him down the steps to his base, grunting softly as he lifted Eddie up and placed him flat on a table. He quickly grabbed the herbs from his case and made the antidote for the poison as fast and efficiently as he could, keeping one eye on Eddie at all times.

Pouring the concoction into a cup, Buck rushed over to Eddie’s side and placed his hand under the back of his neck, gently tipping his head up and helping him drink the antidote. Once he had drained the cup, Eddie coughed weakly, his head laying back on the table for a few moments as he groaned in pain.

Buck turned around, placing the cup back on his desk and taking a deep breath as he lowered his hood. When he turned around, Eddie had managed to sit up slightly and was looking at him with a furrowed brow and wide eyes. 

“Hey.” Buck’s face twisted into a smirk, a veiled attempt to hide his anxiety about revealing himself to his bodyguard. “You look like shit, man.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! I'm so excited for you guys to finally read this chapter because I had an absolute blast writing it. Starting with the next couple of chapters the story will slowly being veering from the show and I've got some great Buddie moments planned.
> 
> Shout out to Em for betaing this for me and encouraging me to continue writing! Kudos warm my heart and comments make my day, I would love to hear what you guys think and what you'd like to see in future chapters!

**Author's Note:**

> This has taken me literally months to write. So far, I have finished the first 3 chapters. There will be around twenty, I believe. I hope you guys enjoy this Arrow/911 fusion! (and no, you don't need to know anything about the show to enjoy this) The beginning couple of chapters closely follow the show, obviously, but they will soon diverge and I can't wait for you guys to read the rest of this.
> 
> Updates will be very, very slow, so bear with me! Hope y'all enjoy this, and leave a comment and kudos letting me know your thoughts!!!!!


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